CFC91--Hi Ho Silver

Happy Friday!  Who's ready for the weekend?  I hope you'll find time for something fun, perhaps even a challenge or two.  :)

This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:  use silver on your clean and simple creation.  I rarely reach for metallics, so I really enjoyed the push to do something different.

Despite the fun challenge, it's also a sad week at CAS-ual Fridays, as we're saying farewell to several Girl Fridays.  They all have exciting things in their future, so we're sure to keep seeing their incredible creations in the blogosphere, but they will be greatly missed at CAS-ual Fridays.  :(  I hope you'll take some time to visit each of them to wish them well!

As for my card this week, I couldn't resist using some silver glitter paper on my card base.  The white panel was stamped repeatedly with a border from Mama Elephant's Trifecta in aqua.  I added a sentiment from WPlus9's Heartfelt Mix, some silver cord, and a few silver sequins.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Glitter paper: Michaels

Stamps:  Mama Elephant (Trifecta), WPlus9 Design Studio (Heartfelt Mix)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tool:  Fiskars (hole punch)

Accessories:  silver cord, sequins

I can't wait to see your entry in the gallery!

Thanks for visiting today, friends!  Have a great start to your weekend.

CAS-ual Fridays #77--Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Please scroll down to see my 12 Kits of Christmas post!

Hello again!  Are you ready for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge?  This week it's all about the guys in our lives:

All you have to do is create a clean and simple masculine project.  You could be our next Guest Designer!

As soon as I laid my eyes on the new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set WTF, I knew I'd be making a card for my brother with it.  When he announced that he'd gotten a new job, it was the perfect opportunity to ink up this clever sentiment.

The stripes were heat embossed in white to match the crisp pinked border.  A simple design that packs a punch!

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Orange Zest, White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (WTF)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark

Tools:  Fiskars (pinking shears)

I'm always looking for inspiration for masculine designs, so this week's challenge gallery will be a great resource.  I hope you'll play along with us!

Have a great start to your weekend!

CFC76-Kraft on!

Hello there!  It's an exciting night!  The time has finally come when you can get your hands on the new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

Want another chance to win the entire release?  Play along with us this week at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog!  This week we're using kraft in our clean and simple designs.

It's a bittersweet week for the Girl Fridays, as we're saying farewell to four of our fellow designers.  Karolyn, Julie, Stephanie, and Jenny have lots of exciting things in their future, and we wish them well as they go forward!  It has been an honor to design with all of you, ladies!

For my card this week I used stamps from Woot Woot (isn't that a fun name?).  I stamped the border image on a kraft card base and added black pearls.  Then I stamped two of the large sentiments onto a strip of white cardstock and popped it up with foam tape.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Woot Woot)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Accessories:  Michaels (pearls)

I hope you'll join us this week, and be sure to stop by the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog to wish Karolyn, Julie, Stephanie, and Jenny the best of luck in their future endeavors!

Thanks for visiting!

Cloud9 Blog Hop--August

If you're looking for the CASE Study Second Anniversary Blog Hop, click HERE!

What an amazing group of participants we had in the first Cloud9 Blog Hop!  I hope you had a chance to join us, but if not, you can jump right in with this month's challenge.  Just be sure to use at least one WPlus9 image in your creation, then link it up at the Cloud9 blog.

Suzanne has provided us with a fantastic sketch to use this month:

I was stumped for a while, but the "strips" in the sketch made me think of the banner image from Super Star, so that's where I started.  I also needed a little help choosing colors, so I turned to this week's ColourQ challenge (scroll down for the graphic).

I couldn't help it, I had to use A Pocketful again.  :)

I masked the banners before splattering Summer Starfruit ink across the card front, then added the sun and die cut pocket.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Super Star, A Pocketful)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Certainly Celery)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (pocket die)

Here's the ColourQ palette for this week:

Don't forget to link up to the Cloud9 Blog Hop!  I can't wait to see all the brilliant takes on this sketch.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Pin-spired--Nautical stripes

Hi friends!  It's been a while since I made a card that wasn't for a DT assignment or challenge of some kind, so I decided to sit down for a few minutes this afternoon and make something just for me.  I recently Pinned this photo for inspiration and immediately sketched an idea for a card.  

                                                                                    Source: laviepetite.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

It's pretty obvious how I was inspired!  I wanted to replicate the broad red stripes, so I stamped them onto white cardstock using PTI's Faux Ribbon.  I tucked strips of navy cardstock under the panel at the top and bottom and pinked the edges, then added a stitched "seam".

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, and I balanced it by adding three navy buttons threaded with red and white baker's twine in the top corner.

The subtle texture on the striped panel comes from PTI's Linen & Canvas impression plate.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Enchanted Evening, White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon), Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Not Quite Navy)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), Fiskars (pinking shears)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (buttons), The Twinery (Maraschino baker's twine), thread

I've noticed a lot of designers posting cards that were inspired by photos on Pinterest.  I have a ton of pictures saved that I'd like to use as inspiration for cards, so maybe I'll make this a semi-regular feature.  What do you think?

I hope your weekend gets off to a great start!  I'll be back in the morning with a new Card Patterns sketch!

Card Patterns sketch #155-Sponsored by DRS Designs

Hello friends!  I have a new Card Patterns sketch to share with you today.  This week we're sponsored again by DRS Designs.  They provided the designers with some cute rubber stamps to use on our projects, and my package of goodies included the Large Beer Mug!

With the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday, I couldn't help but think of green beer.  *grin*  But I stopped short of coloring the beer green, and instead made a Wild Wasabi card base stamped repeatedly with the word "cheers".  

I stamped the beer mug onto Rustic White cardstock and colored it with my Prisma pencils.  I cut it out and popped it up with foam dots on a Rustic White circle stamped with a woodgrain "table".

The Garden Green strip is debossed with polka dots (I was thinking of bubbles rising in the mug) and embellished with some brown twine and buttons.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Wild Wasabi, Garden Green), Papertrey Ink (Rustic White)

Stamps:  DRS Designs (Large Beer Mug), Papertrey Ink (Fresh Alphabet), WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Tools:  Spellbinders (circle die), Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot impression plate), corner rounder

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (buttons), Pebbles, Inc. (twine)

Coloring medium:  Prismacolor Premier pencils

I hope you enjoy this week's sketch and will find some time to play along this week!  Thanks again for your visit!

ColourQ #123

Good morning, friends!  It's time again for a new ColourQ challenge!  Check out these positively "sweet" hues:

If you're still working on Valentine's projects, these colors would be perfect.  But they're also great for a birthday or any other celebration, which is why I've used them on a "Happy for you" card.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've succumbed to the banner trend!  First I cut strips of Poppy Parade, Regal Rose, and Peach Parfait using PTI's double ended banner die, then heat embossed the letters in white using the Fresh Alphabet set.

I stamped the largest image from Dot Spot in Peach Parfait, then stamped part of a sentiment from Think Big Favorites #4 on a banner and popped it up on foam dots.  The banner was temporarily adhered to the card base and stitched in place.

 Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Poppy Parade, Regal Rose, Peach Parfait), Papertrey Ink (White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot, Fresh Alphabet, Think Big Favorites #4)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Peach Parfait), Clearsnap (Scarlet), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Double Ended Banner die)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder), Me & My Big Ideas (rhinestones), thread

Just a fun little card to have on hand in case I need to congratulate someone!

I hope you'll check out the rest of the Design Team samples and link up your creation at the ColourQ blog.

Thanks for stopping by today!

ColourQ #120 & CAS-ual Fridays #35

Hi there!  So glad you stopped by today.  It's time for a new color palette at the ColourQ blog, and this one was definitely a challenge for me!  I turned to the current challenge at CAS-ual Fridays to use scallops, and things finally started coming together.

I first stamped a scalloped border using PTI's Boy Basics:  Simple Circles in Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, and Wisteria Wonder.  I added one more circle with a star center near the top before debossing the top half of the panel with the Linen & Canvas impression plate.

You've seen me use a star frame a few times recently, but I love it and thought it added a nice balance to the top of the card.

For the sentiment, I heat embossed the word "congrats" in white using PTI's Outline Alphabet on Bravo Burgundy cardstock, then popped the strip up with foam dots.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Bravo Burgundy, Island Indigo), Papertrey Ink (white)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Boy Basics:  Simple Circles, Outline Alphabet)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Wisteria Wonder), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate, star dies)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder)

 So, will you play along this week?  I can't wait to see the gallery--it gets better every week!

Thanks again for your visit!  Have a good one!