Black & White Just A Note Card - CAS-ual Fridays CFC #36 Challenge

I came across the CAS-ual Fridays Penguin Suit challenge this weekend.

You have to make a black and white card - no other colour allowed, not even a smidgen.  I love black and white cards and I had the perfect stamp in mind - on loan from my crafty friend Lesley - so I had to join in.  I started off by stamping the image, trimming it and mounting to a black layer.  I then stamped the sentiment in the bottom corner of my 5 1/4" square card blank, added the image panel, added black grosgrain ribbon tied in a knot and rounded the right hand corners.

 Inside I stamped just a part of the stamp in the bottom corner.  Lastly I added a circle element to the envelope flap.

I really don't think you can go wrong with a black and white card, they seem to come together quickly, especially if you keep to a CAS design.  I found after making this card I was really keen to make another one so stay tuned for another post today with another card for the CFC #36 challenge!

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Berry Red, Snow White', sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps Say it with Style clear set
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, 1 1/2" & 1 3/4" circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: black grosgrain ribbon

Oval Flower Bookmark Card - WMSC34

When I saw the Waltzingmouse Stamps sketch WMSC34 this week I thought it would be fun to cut a slot in the card front and insert an oval bookmark.  Here's the sketch.

I started off with an A6 card made with SU! Not Quite Navy CS.  I cut two slits 3/4" apart as a slot for my bookmark to slide into.  For the bookmark I cut Petite Oval Nestie die shapes in Whisper White and Pacific Point CS and Blueberry Crisp patterned paper.  I used the WMS Say It With Style set, stamping the flowers and leaves in VersaMark on Pacific Point and Sahara Sand CS and heat embossing with white powder.  I also embossed the sentiment in white.

I put a contrasting piece of Blueberry Crisp paper on the bottom of the card.  I cut out the images and assembled them with glue dots.  I haven't popped anything up, I kept it flat so the oval will function well as a bookmark  To finish the card front, I added two Cuttlebug Vintage die cut shapes and silver nailheads to the flower centre and sentiment strip.

Then I decorated the envelope front and the inside of the card.  I love that patterned paper!  I used my Eyelet Lace border punch on the Pacific Point strip.  This card will be posted to a distant friend I keep in touch with solely by snail mail.

Supplies:

Stamps: WMS Say It With Style set

CS: SU! Not Quite Navy, Pacific Point, Sahara Sand & Whisper White

Patterned paper: SU! Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper pack

Ink: VersaMark, SU! Not Quite Navy

Tools: Petite Oval Nestabilities dies, Cuttlebug Vintage die, Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace border punch, Crop-A-Dile

Embellishments & accessories: white grosgrain ribbon, SU! Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, self adhesive silver nailheads

Round Chrysanthemum Just For You Birthday Card - WMSC26

I haven't made a round card in ages and I love shaped cards so I really enjoyed taking part in this weeks Waltzingmouse Stamps sketch challenge.  Here's the sketch:

My card measures just under 4 3/4" and I used my large Coluzzle circle template to cut the circles of CS and the semi circles of patterned paper.  I glued the papers to the front circle, applied a strip of ribbon and then scored a line on the back circle and attached the two circles together to form the card.  I then sliced a tad off the bottom so the card stands up.

I've stamped the flowers and leaves on patterned papers, sponged all the edges and cut them out.  I attached the two flowers together with a gem brad.  The flowers are popped up with 3d glue dots.  I die cut the sentiment with a Labels Trio die, glued it to the card front and trimmed off the excess, following the curve of the card.  I then gussied up the sentiment with three punched flowers with crystal centres.

Then I decorated the inside of the card and glued some patterned paper to the envelope flap.  Happy I've used some more patterned paper from my big stash!

Supplies:
Stamps: WMS Big Blooms Chrysanthemums and Say It With Style sets
CS: SU! Regal Rose & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Spring Fling & Sweet Always Designer Series Paper packs
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose & Old Olive
Tools: Large Coluzzle circle template, circle Nestability dies, Spellbinders Labels Trio die, X Cut mini flower punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Dovecraft gem brad, clear crystals, 3d glue dots

Snowflakes 50th Birthday Card - WMSC25

This is the card I've made for my friend Bev who turns 50 at the beginning of January.  I've used the fab Waltzingmouse Sketch for challenge #25 to make a wintery snowflake card for her.  Here's a link to the sketch blog and here's the sketch:

 The card measures approx. 15 cms square.  I embossed snowflakes onto blue Core'dinations paper, scuffed the embossing and then added glitter.  For my sentiment circle I used stamps from WMS Say It With Style and Vintage Circles Small sets.  The sentiment circle is popped up.  For the age circle, I stamped some blue snowflakes onto white card, added die cut letters and punched with a circle punch.  The 50 circle is also popped up and I used double thickness of foam tape.

I really don't remember where I got the jewelled snowflake embellishments.  I found these three in my stash in a plastic bag.  I have a feeling I might have rescued them from some Christmas crackers last year!  I punched black snowflakes and layered the jewelled ones over the top.  * Sniff * - that is the last piece of my lovely black and white snowflake ribbon.  To finish off the card front I added some blue crystals.

Then I decorated the inside of the card and the envelope.  I love that snowflake border, it's so pretty.  I stamped it across the front of the envelope too.

I can't believe I'm ahead of the game for Bev's birthday, I'm usually scrambling in the New Year to get a card made for her so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself LOL! 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! WMS Say It With Style & Vintage Circles Small sets, PSX Snowflake Medley stamp, My Cute Stamps Let It Snow! set
CS: Craftwork Cards Alabaster Smoothies CS, Core'dinations Blue Lightning, black CS, SU Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaColor Sky Blue pigment ink
Tools: Snowflake folder from Cuttlebug 'Winter Wonderland' embossing folder set, circle & square Nestabilities dies, circle punches, X Cut snowflake punches, Katie Skinni Mini QuicKutz number dies
Embellishments & accessories: Snowflake ribbon, jewelled snowflake embellishments, crystal ultrafine glitter, blue crystals, ultrafine sandpaper, 3d foam tape

Asian Flowers Birthday Wishes - WMSC24

This is a birthday card I made for a friend and to enter into the WMSC24 challenge.  Here's the sketch:

I made a square card rather than rectangular, this sketch is versatile and easily works for both.  The card measures just a tad under 15 cms square and I used Perfect Plum CS for the base.  The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi line.  After cutting my Labels Four shapes I applied Antique Linen distress ink to the white shape before stamping the branch.  The smaller flowers are stamped direct to the white panel but I stamped the larger flowers separately, cut them out and I've popped them up.  I've also popped up the white panel.

My SU! Photo Corners punch was used again, I love having this thing!  I punched small Mellow Moss corners and layered them onto large Pale Plum corners.  To finish off the front I added pearls to the flower centres and to the corners.

Then I decorated the inside of the card and the envelope flap.

Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens set, inside sentiment from Penny Black
CS: SU! Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss, Pale Plum & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Kioshi 'Lilo'
Ink: SU! Mellow Moss, Memento Sweet Plum & Grape Jelly, Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink
Tools: Labels Four Nestabilities dies, SU! Photo Corners punch, circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, self adhesive half pearls, 3d foam pads

Bauble Trio Merry Christmas - WMSC22

This is the card I've made for the Waltzingmouse WMSC22 sketch challenge.  Here's the sketch:

As you can see I've been very literal and kept things very simple!  I thought of the bauble from Sewing Box Christmas as soon as I saw the sketch.  I dug out some well loved old Basic Grey Fruitcake and Figgy Pudding papers for my paper piecing.  I sponged the edges of the card with Antique Linen distress ink.  The sentiment stamp is on one line but I used a dewdrop pad and was easily able to ink the words separately to get the words on two lines inside my middle bauble. I found the green cord after rootling in my stash and thought it would be perfect as a line for my baubles.   

After finishing the card front I set to work on the inside and the envelope flap.

Supplies:
Stamps: WMS Sewing Box Christmas & Say It With Style sets, inside sentiment by Stampendous
CS: Textured white DL card blank
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Fruitcake & Figgy Pudding
Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink
Tools: Labels Four Nestabilities dies, Fiskars fingertip knife, Inkssentials Blending Tool
Embellishments & accessories: Anita's olive ribbon, green cord, brad, glue dots

CAS Bauble & Bow Merry Christmas

Today's CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers is a colour challenge - kraft, pink and olive with Marina Mist as optional.  I'm waiting to get my Marina Mist CS and ink so I stayed with kraft, pink and olive. 

I paper pieced the bauble, punched two holes in the card front and then tied the bauble onto the card with a ribbon bow.  So my bauble swings from the card.  I added the sentiment strip to finish off the card front. 

Then I couldn't resist decorating the inside of the card too.  It seemed very appropriate to use my bauble sentiment!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Real Pine, Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set, Merry Christmas by Elzybells, inside sentiment by Stampendous
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink & Old Olive
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip & Old Olive
Tools: Small hole punch, Spellbinders Labels Trio die
Embellishments & accessories: Pink & brown striped ribbon, brads, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Snowman Merry Christmas Card - WMSC20

This card was made for the Waltzingmouse Stamps WMSC20 sketch challenge.  I did tweak the placement of my snowman panel, I preferred it placed to the left rather than in the centre!

I fell in love with this My Mind's Eye Berries paper, the berries are shiny and glittery and I love the soft green with the white and deep red.  I sponged the edges of the white panel with Sage Shadow ink after paper piecing the snowman and stamping the stitches and sentiment.  I've added tiny punched snowflakes and a rhinestone brad to my tag.

Supplies:
Stamps: WMS Sewing Box Christmas, Off Beat Backgrounds & Say It With Style sets
CS: SU! Sage Shadow & Whisper White, Bazzill Pomegranate
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye I Believe Berries
Ink: SU! Sage Shadow, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die, Woodware tiny snowflake punch, paper piercer, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! clear rhinestone brad

Another Birdie Catalogue CASE Card

I was looking through the new SU! catalogue the other day, purely to look at the card designs and to earmark some for CASEing.  Owen was sitting at the table opposite me and he pointed out a few cards that he liked, one of which was the bird trio card on page 47.  He was going for a job interview on Thursday so I decided to make him a good luck card based on the card from the catty.  I've used different colours and stamps, haven't bothered with the bleach stamping technique, the distressed card corner or the thread and I don't have any clips.

I used SU! Confetti White CS for the side opening A6 card base and Crumb Cake for the centre panel which I've distressed.  My birds are punched from Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant and Rich Razzleberry.  I've stamped each wing in the ink that matches the CS with the gorgeous flourish stamp from the Vintage Vogue set.  I used that for the stamping at the bottom of the card also.  The birds are popped up and I've added a purple gem eye to each one.  The sentiment is from a Waltzingmouse Stamps set.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Vintage Vogue set, Waltzingmouse Stamps Say It With Style set
CS: SU! Confetti White, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant & Rich Razzleberry
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant & Rich Razzleberry
Tools: SU! Two Step Bird punch, SU! Curly Label punch, Tim Holtz edge distresser
Embellishments & accessories: Anita's gem wheel, 3d foam pads

Flower Trio Just For You - Craft For Life Campaign Card

It's been a while since I made a card for the Craft for Life campaign so I remedied that today.  I wanted to try out a colour combo including turquoise.  It's our friend Gill's birthday this week and her fave colour is turquoise.  I always try to incorporate it into cards I make for her but I'm running out of tried and tested colour combos!  I went for a bold pairing with eggplant and some white and a touch of celery.

I embossed the white oval with the Victorian Fleur embossing folder.  I stamped off the flowers twice first and then rock and rolled.  I've shaped the flowers with a DEET and an embossing stylus.  The leaves are punched shapes.  To finish off, I added turquoise gems to the flower centres.  I must say I quite like this colour combo!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Vintage Vogue set, Waltzingmouse Stamps Say It With Style set
CS: SU! Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, & Certainly Celery
Ink: SU! Tempting Turquoise & Elegant Eggplant
Tools:  PaperMania Victorian Fleur embossing folder, Nellie's Multi Frame Oval MFD013 die, Woodware leafy punch, DEET, embossing stylus, moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, Kaiser turquoise gems

Lanterns Best Wishes Card - WMSC14

This is the card I've made for the Waltzingmouse Stamps WMSC14 sketch challenge.  It's a great sketch this week, fab for showing off pretty patterned paper.  Here's the sketch:

I flipped the sketch to landscape orientation and omitted the scalloped edge.  I'm glad I finally got to ink up the lovely lantern stamps.  I bought a set of clear stamps recently that has a line for hanging baubles from - I'm chuffed that it's also perfect for hanging the WMS lanterns from!

The DL sized card is made from SU! Certainly Celery CS.  The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi line.  For the right hand side panel, I stamped the Asian Gardens border stamp on Perfect Plum CS using Elegant Eggplant ink.  I've sponged the sentiment and image panels with distress ink.  The trio of lanterns are popped up.  After I'd put the card together I thought it would be fun to place gems in the centre of each design on the patterned paper - so I did just that and I love the resulting twinkle!

Supplies:
Stamps: WMS Asian Gardens & Asian Gardens Additions sets,  Personal Impressions Joyful Bubbles set
CS: SU! Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Kioshi 'Sayuri'
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink
Tools: Sizzix Photo Corners #2 Sizzlits die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, Anita's gems, 3d foam pads

September 2010 Card Group Projects

Today  was our card group get together, it's been a while as we had to cancel the August meeting.  September means it's time to start Christmas cards!  I'm sticking with my non traditional colour combos for this months cards.  I've also decorated the insides of the cards to tie the whole design together.  Just something simple like some stamping, a piece of matching patterned paper and some punched or die cut shapes can make a big difference and it really doesn't take too long to decorate the inside of the card too.

First up is a trapezium shaped card made to look like a gift.  Very simple, cover the entire card front with patterned paper, add some ribbon strips and a tag and the card is done.  I debated whether or not to centre the ribbon strips but decided to go off centre but I think either way works. The circle tag is popped up.

This photo shows the inside of the card:

Next up is a card using the tree and various images from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set.  Turquoise Stickles has been added to the baubles and some of the baubles are popped up.  The ric rac strips are made with die cut shapes.  The sentiment circle and the star are popped up.

This photo shows the inside of the card:

Last up is this lovely blue and chocolate card made with the SU! Dasher reindeer stamp.  I've CASEd this design from Monica Gale.  I saw the card on her blog, fell in love with it and made one straight away.  I thought it would make a great card for my card group to make.

I used a piece of torn CS as a mask at the bottom of the Whisper White piece and sponged Bashful Blue ink above the mask.  Monica used a brayer to apply her ink, either way works really well.  I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to stamp the trees on either side of Dasher and on the card front because I wanted the trees to look fairly seamless but I bet it also looks fine if you're not so persnickety!  I'll let my ladies decide if they want to use the SAMJ or not.  Dasher stamped a tad blotchy in places so I went over him lightly with a Chocolate Chip marker.

I've applied some ultrafine glitter to add some sparkle to the snow line.  The star brad is fixed around the centre of the bow and was attached to the panel before being applied to the card front so the brad prongs don't show through the card front.

This photo shows the inside of the card:

Supplies for trapezium card:
Stamps: SU! So Many Scallops set, inside sentiment by Hero Arts
CS: Woodware white trapezium card blank, SU! Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke & Sage Shadow
Patterned paper: SU! Wintergreen Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Always Artichoke
Tools: SU! Scalloped & plain circle punches, X Cut snowflake punch, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Certainly Celery twill ribbon, gem brad, silver cord, 3d foam pads

Supplies for tree card:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set, Wishes of Joy by Hero Arts, inside sentiment by Penny Black
CS: Anita's white A6 card blank, SU! Old Olive & Tempting Turquoise
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip & Old Olive
Tools: Circle punches, Sizzix 'Ribbons' Decorative Strip die
Embellishments & accessories: Turquoise Stickles, 3d foam pads

Supplies for Dasher with trees card:
Stamps: SU! Lovely As A Tree set, SU! Dasher stamp, Merry Christmas from SU! Seasonal Wishes set, inside sentiment by Penny Black
CS: SU! Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bashful Blue & Chocolate Chip
Tools: Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, Crystal ultrafine glitter, star brad

Snowflake Let It Snow Card For WMSC13

his is the card I've made for the Waltzingmouse Stamps WMSC13 challenge.  Here's the sketch:

I love square cards and I loved that the sketch incorporated different shapes, I really enjoyed this fab sketch.  I've gone with quite an unusual colour combo - I'm hoping I've stayed the right side of unusual and not veered into weird LOL! I'm thinking I'll use this as a Christmas card or maybe a winter note card or an after Christmas thank you card.

The card measures 5 3/4" square and was made with SU! Perfect Plum CS.  I've paper pieced the snowflake from the WMS Sewing Box Christmas set and added a gem brad to the centre.  I've added square gems to the Eggplant square.  This square and the snowflake are both popped up.

The 'let it snow' are die cut shapes, I've added a gem brad as the dot above the i.  I cut out the 'snow' in white CS that I'd adhered to a piece of double sided adhesive sheet.  You can't tell from the photo but I peeled off the backing sheet from the word and smooshed it into ultrafine glitter to add some seasonal sparkle.

Supplies:
Stamps: WMS Sewing Box Christmas set
CS: SU! Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Ski Slope Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: Square & Circle Nestabilities dies, Sizzix Sizzlits Let It Snow die
Embellishments & accessories: Woodware A4 double sided adhesive sheet, Art Institute Crystal ultrafine glitter, gem brads, square gems, 3d foam pads

Holly Merry Christmas Easel Card

This is a simple easel Christmas card made using the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set. I love how the holly looks after paper piecing, it was an easy, fun card to make! The card measures 4 1/4" square.

The paper is from the SU! Merry Moments pack. I used my new Sizzix decorative strip die, but this time I used the rick rack die cut shape. The olive square panel is popped up.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Sewing Box Christmas set, SU! Best Yet set
CS: SU! Real Red, Garden Green, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Real Red
Tools: Labels One & square Nestabilities dies, SU! plain and scalloped oval punches, Sizzix Loops & Rick Rack Decorative Strip die
Embellishments & accessories: 3d foam pads

Birdcage Flower Shaped Card for WMSC11 with 6" Ruler

This is the card I've made for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #11. I spent a lot of time at the weekend cleaning and sorting out my crafting room and I came across some long neglected items in my stash. When I saw the round shape of the WMS sketch this week I remembered I'd seen my flower shaped cards and I thought one of those would be perfect!



I bought these cards from Craftwork Cards years ago but haven't used one in a very long time. Each card comes with three flower shaped pieces - two coloured pearlescent shapes and one plasma (clear plastic) shape. Each flower shape has a hole and you tie ribbon through the holes to connect the pieces together to form the card - the plasma shape goes at the front. The card fits in a 6" square envelope.

I used the lovely Asian Gardens set for my image panel. The flowers are all popped up with 3d foam pads. Nestie dies were used to cut out all my circles. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi line. I stacked two lilac buttons together after threading thin strips of Artichoke CS through the small buttonholes. I couldn't resist adding a clear crystal to the birdcage!

I've recently joined the Birthday RAK group on the Splitcoast Stampers website and this card will be the last birthday RAK card I send out for August. I've stamped the 'Birthday Wishes' sentiment from the Asian Gardens set inside the card as I didn't have room on the card front.




A little while ago I came across Monica Gale's fab idea of decorating 6" rulers with double sided patterned paper. She has a video tutorial here on her blog post. I decorated a ruler with the same Basic Grey Kioshi paper I'd used on the card except I used the reverse, flowery side for the front of the ruler. I've added a coat of clear gloss varnish to the back of the ruler to make it more durable. They make such an inexpensive, fun RAK gift, and being flat, they're perfect for posting! Please click on the photo if you want a larger view.



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Asian Gardens set
CS: Lilac pearlescent Craftwork Cards flower shaped card, SU! Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Kioshi 'Lilo'
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves & Sweet Plum, VersaMagic Eggplant chalk ink
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, clear crystal, PaperMania buttons, SU! Pewter jumbo eyelet, Wilkinson 6" clear plastic ruler, 3d foam pads