Just Us Girls #707 - CAS in a Circle

 Hello!  Thanks for stopping by.  Sadly, this is my last challenge as Guest Designer on Just Us Girls.  I have enjoyed this month so much working with some really lovely, talented ladies.   I thank them for having me join them. 

The challenge this week is CAS in a Circle.  What does that mean?  Create a circle shaped card that is CAS?  Use a circle?  Feature circles?  The answer is, yes! It's however you interpret this.

My card features a lot of open space for sure!  I wish you could see this in real life.  It's stunning.  I used a sweet stamp and die set from Tonic Studios called Festive Tags

I used some gold pearlescent card - I don't know how to describe this gold other than it's a light, watery gold color and it's so pretty!  The base is ivory and the detail part is gold shiny mirror card.  The bow is die I got for free from Scrapbook.com.

This card is so pretty in person, it's shiny.  I hope you are inspired to play along.

Color My Heart Color Dare #576

Hello!  Thank you for stopping by.  Color My Heart Color Dare #576 is up and ready for your fun and creativity!

We have a 6-pack to work with.  You need to use at least 3 of these colors.  I chose Sage, Pine, Shortbread and Mocha.  White is free so I used woodgrain texture card from Lawn Fawn and metallics are free, too, so I used copper specialty card from Tonic Studios.

This card is so beautiful (she says humbly)!  I used the inverted scallop die from Pink & Main and Honey Bee Honey Cuts Wagon Wheel, Fall Bounty and Fall Bouquet dies.  I don't think I've ever been so enamored by one company's collection as I have been with this collection.  Maybe I'm a country girl at heart.  I was born and raised in Denver, we were up in the mountains all the time and we did have to go help on grandparent's farm.  I was weekend country girl.  But Autumn is my favorite time of year, particularly when we lived in West Virginia.  The colors during Fall were amazing!  Cool, crisp air where you felt warm in the sun.  Cold nights to snuggle up under a warm blanket with a cup of hot tea and a good book.  Craft fairs to go to with friends and family.  It was a happier time in my life when my kids were little and my husband and I liked each other.

Anyway.... I know this collection is available still on their site.  Go check it out!  I'm already thinking of cards with this wagon wheel with snow and a bird.  

I do hope you'll join us at Color My Heart Color Dare.  We have some talented ladies on the team and talented players who inspire us!

Tuesday Morning Sketches #734

 Hey there! Thank you so much for stopping by.  As we head into this Thanksgiving holiday Tuesday Morning Sketches is here if you need a break from turkey and football and just need some crafting time to yourself.

TMS is also collaborating with our friends at Double Trouble.  Their challenge is to add stitching to your card.  My card features dies from Tonic Studios and Spellbinders.

I'm also playing along with Just Add Ink - their challenge is to use Pool Party, Calypso Coral and Petal Pink.  These are Stampin' Up! colors so I used what was close.

I recently saw some cards that on Facebook that I think is featuring CTMH products, but what I really liked about these cards was the thin frames.  So I am doing my own version here.  I cut the base from using the rounded corner stitched rectangle die from Pink & Main.  I then used stencil to lightly add pattern in the background.  I did the same with the vertical strip on the left.  The horizontal strip I embossed a subtle pattern that also looks like stitched flowers.  I added flowers from Bold Blooms and then added some small sewing elements such as buttons, bobbin, pin and needle.  

This turned out to be a really cheery notecard.  I hope you like it and that you'll join us at TMS.  You have 2 weeks to play.

Just Us Girls #706 Mood Board

 Hello!  Thank you for stopping by.  The latest challenge is up and ready for you at Just Us Girls.  This week is a mood board.  I am having so much fun with this Guest spot and am very grateful, but I struggled with this mood board.  I didn't know what the heck I was going to do with it.  I vacillated a lot and I hope you like what I ended up with.

I went more with the colors than the images - but the overall picture of the images strike me as whimsical, non-traditional Christmas and just SO MUCH FUN!  My card features these gnomes that I got from an unbranded store.  Before I made the purchase I did my due diligence to find if "they" copied from a small business.  I couldn't find them anywhere.

Are these not the cutest gnomes (that is, if you like gnomes)1  The base is a cover die from Kat Scrappiness.  The paper is "Let it Snow" by Doodlebug.  And then I added hot pink snowflakes.  The light bulbs are Nuvo Drops.  The little red gnome, I cut his hat out of felt to accent the hat.

The sentiment is from a tag that is included in the paper pad.  The present he's standing on is a die from Tonic Studios.  But look at that little guy on the right, his mug!  Eeek!!  It's so cute.  I die cut the mug carefully from the patterned paper in the same pad.  Then using a die that I'm not really sure what it's actually for was perfect to make the teeny-tiny candy cane in that mug of hot cocoa.  I was going to do a marshmallow, too, but decided against it.

I do hope you'll join in the fun at Just Us Girls.  

Tuesday Morning Sketches #733

 Hi!  Thanks for stopping by.  The latest sketch is up at Tuesday Morning Sketches.  Maybe you'll want to give it a try.

My card features some paper that I got for free when I ordered a couple of things from Scrapbook.com.  I kept this pretty simple.  Let the paper do the work.

It's really gorgeous paper, there wasn't anything I could do it to make it shine any better.  The sentiment was in the same paper pad, too.  I just die cut a mat for it and there we go.

It's been really gray and gloomy in FL the last couple of days so getting a natural light photo was out of the question so I pulled out my WRMK ShotBox.  I guess I have ZERO clue on how to use this!  How does everyone else get these bright, colors are vibrant, best looking photos and I get blue and washed out?  I give up.  If anyone wants to buy this from, I'll go pretty cheap on it.  Worst $100 I ever spent!  Grrr.  Maybe, if anyone actually reads this post, can tell how to use this thing so I get better pictures.

Well anyway, I would love to have you join us at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog.  We're nearing the end of the year.  You know what that means?! 

Just Us Girls #705 Thanks/Thanksgiving

 Hello!  Thank you all so much for the warm welcome I was given last week with my first Guest Spot with JUGS.  

This week is word week.  And it's perfect since we're just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving here in the US.

My card features, once again, the Fall Collection from Honey Bee Stamps.  This one has almost everything I have in the collection!  The paper, the fence, the wagon wheel, the apple barrel with apples and apple blossoms and the Fall Bouquet.  I love how this turned out!  The paper was actually a pleasant surprise that it worked for this card.  I had fun die cutting out these pieces.  I don't know about you but I find die cutting and putting things together very therapeutic.

I grunged up the fence using gray and dark brown inks.  The wagon wheel I didn't do much to it since I knew most of it would be behind the barrel.  I love apples, so this barrel has my favorite snacking apples and baking apples.  Red Delicious are my fave to snack on with some peanut butter.  And Golden Delicious are my kids' favorite to snack on.  And you just can't beat a good ol' Granny Smith for baking a pie! 

I hope you enjoy my card and that inspires you to play along with us!  

Color My Heart Color Dare #574

Hello!  Thank you for your visit.  This week's Color My Heart Color Dare #574 is up and ready to go!

This challenge is a tic-tac-toe challenge.  Use 3 in row or diagonal.

My card features Acorn, Pumpkin and Honey Butter.  I did pull in a few other colors because they were needed to complete this card.  I used two different die sets from Spellbinders to make the focal image. 

This is one of the Thanksgiving cards I'll be sending to my family.  I think this one will be for my Aunt Nancy.

I hope you join us at Color My Heart Color Dare - it's a fun challenge!

Tuesday Morning Sketches #732

 Hello friends.  Thanks for stopping by.  The latest sketch is up at Tuesday Morning Sketches and all I will say is - remember, a shape is a shape and can take on many forms.

My card features the Fall Collection from Honey Bee Stamps.  I love these dies and I'm not ready to put them away.

I did not make a square card.  But honestly, in hindsight, I should have.  I used the apple barrel and filled it with gourds, I used part of the fence die cutting a post and the bottom away.  I like this card, but not super excited.  It feels like it's falling short on something but I just didn't know what it could be.

Even the sentiment strip didn't quite work as I expected - I used WOW White Pearl fine embossing powder, but it didn't turn out very white.  I decided to just go with it and show you close up.

It's pretty in real life.  Trust me on that!

I also am participating in another challenge - something I need to do more often, for sure!

Sunday Stamps - color palette

We'll see you over at the TMS blog!  Be sure to stop by and leave the team some love.

Just Us Girls #704 - Look who got a Guest Designer spot!

 Hello!  Thank you for stopping by my blog.  I do appreciate your visit.

I am so excited to share that I got picked to be the Guest Designer for Just Us Girls for the month of November!  This is a real honor for me and I just couldn't be more delighted.

Alright - let's get started with the first challenge for November...

Red and green!  Well, when most see red and green, they automatically think Christmas and especially this time of year.  But I didn't want to go that direction, so instead I made a birthday card for a December birthday friend.

This card features a 3D embossing folder from Spellbinders.  I used Chili Red card stock from Tonic Studios.  Then I went about to create my wreath.  I started with 2 circle dies to make a frame.  Then I die cut lots of greenery from Be Bold Blooms die set from Spellbinders and some sprigs from the Bouquets & Buttermilk die set from Tonic Studios.  I did 3 shades of green card stock.  The florals are also from Be Bold Blooms.  I had already adhered the wreath to the red panel and then had issues with my sentiment so I carefully cut out the center of the red panel to open up the inside of the wreath.  Then I used some light gold pearlescent card for the back panel and the sentiment. 

I think this is probably one of the most elegant birthday cards I've ever made! 

I hope to see you over at the JUGS challenge blog - it's going to be a great month!!

Birthstone Challenge November - December

Hello! The newest challenge is up at Birthstone Challenges.  This next 6 weeks is the November-December challenge for Turquoise and Topaz.

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this page!!  It's very bohemian and I can't be more excited about it.  I chose to go with Topaz and teals.  I had hoped this would be turquoise-y enough for the challenge, but there's still too much brightness.

I really pulled out all the stops!  I hot foiled, I stenciled, I die cut, I embossed, I watercolor smooshed, I dropped!  Okay, to start with the base.  I did die cut from watercolor paper.  It was the only thing I knew would withstand all I was going to do it.

I purchased some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray (Industrial Chic) set off Amazon sometime last year.  I never used them!  I finally pulled them out and starting spraying on a scrap piece of paper.  So beautiful.  I went with Steampunk Sephia for my base.  Once it was dry, I pulled out some hot foil borders and copper foil.  I didn't know if it would work well, but it did!

Here you can see I also colored some watercolor paper with Shabby Turbine Teal, in the Lindy's set and then hot foiled the flowers and leaves.  You can also see I used a floral stencil and some copper colored glitter paste.

I found these random feather dies so I cut them from watercolor paper and sepia colored vellum.  The watercolor feathers I sprayed those 2 colors on and then smeared with embossing ink and used copper and brown embossing powder.  I feel like this made them look like metal!  Anyway, I finished it off by adding a few drops of Chocolate Brown Nuvo drops and a few strands of twine tied into a bow. 

The words are random stickers from Tim Holtz.  

I'll see you over at the Birthstone Challenge.  These are some great colors for Fall!