Starry Starry Night

About a week ago I decided to make a bunch of cards for my Christmas card stash.  Well, as it turns out those cards that I made fit a couple of new challenges this week.

As far as design goes, when I made these cards I just had an idea to sponge a night sky and to use this nativity silhouette die.  I tucked them away in my stash to await mailing.  Well, fast forward a week and I took a look at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is "starry starry night" and at CASology where the cue word is "faith" and I realized that my cards fit the bill for both challenges perfectly!  I don't think that's ever happened to me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Bristol Smooth; Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); gold glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans, Black Soot (Distress Oxide)
Accessories:  NativityScape (Sugar Pea Designs)

CAS(E) This Sketch 343

We are going back into the CAS(E) This Sketch archives this week and reprising sketch #175!  Back when this sketch debuted I made a very different card than the one I've got here.  But it's  October now and I've got Christmas on my mind - as in I hope I've got enough Christmas cards in my stash!

For this card I used a background of triangular trees and then added a nice holiday sentiment over them.  Easy peasy!  I think I had a more difficult time deciding on colors than I did on the execution of this card!  There's a Christmas theme going on at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'm going to add this there too.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammies at CAS(E) This Sketch have made some fabbo cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Fresh Snow Linen, Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); White (Catherine Pooler)
Ink:  Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)

CAS(E) This Sketch 296

May laptop has passed on to that great technology heaven in the sky so I'm using my trusty old Chromebook to post this.  I actually love this Chromebook and I should probably use it more but there are some things that it can't do that my laptop can so I'll be shopping soon for a replacement.  I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get a Mac this time around so that should be fun learning a whole new operating system!

But enough about my technology woes.  It's Thursday and it's time for a new challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch.  This week I'm pleased as punch to say that our guest designer is my old friend Kim who is my fellow design team member over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Now onto that challenge!

It was a short leap from that sketch to this card.  The sketch elements were tailor-made to a repeating word image.  So I stamped the word "merry" three times then die cut the same out of some red cardstock a bunch of times, glued those pieces together for some dimension, and stuck it on top of the stamped image in the middle.  I did add a glittery border around the card and some Wink of Stella to the red die cut layer but I'm quite sure neither shows up in the photo!  The colors for my card were inspired by the inspiration challenge at Just Us Girls and at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge it's an anything goes week!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll join us at CAS(E) This Sketch.  My fellow design team members have created some fabulous cards to get your creative juices flowing!

Supplies
Stamps:  In a Word Merry (Winnie & Walter)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!); glitter paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  In a Word Merry die (Winnie & Walter); Wink of Stella

CAS(E) This Sketch 292

I'm pretty sure that I'm woefully behind on Christmas cards this year so I took the opportunity to take our latest CAS(E) This Sketch designed by Brian and transform it into a Christmas card.

As you can see I flipped the sketch on its side and transformed the points of the banner into the points of two trendy Christmas trees.  I added some silver sparkle splatters behind them because the space was too white without them and made a wide border of silver glimmer paper around the edge just because glimmer paper makes me smile!  As luck would have it there's a Let's Get Ready for Christmas challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so this fits perfectly there!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has made some pretty amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti); Mini 71 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Silver Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  silver embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 288

As a kitty-mama I'm always on the lookout for cute kitty stamps.  I recently got a new one and was happy to see that one of the images in the set was absolutely perfect for the circle on this week's CAS(E) This Sketch, which was designed by Donna.

Kitties are experts in resting up!  And I figure this little sleeping beauty will cheer up someone who's feeling a bit under the weather.  I chose colors based on the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays and they've got a simple Stamp On It prompt at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I think I'll add this over there too!

Thanks for stopping by!  My friends at CAS(E) This Sketch have got some beautiful cards to inspire you to play along with us this week.  So check them out and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Kit 'n Kaboodle (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Mint Julep (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Silverstone, Jet Black (Altenew)

CAS(E) This Sketch 259 Meets Fusion

Hey all!  It's time for a couple of new challenges.  We've got a great sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and at Fusion there is a great spring time inspiration challenge.

I love how this card turned out.  At first I was a little stumped by that long vertical layer on the sketch until I went searching through my stash and found this grungy banner-type image.  I also knew that I wanted to add some floral images in shades of pink to mimic the inpiration photo and a day or so before I sat down to make this card I saw that someone on the Splitcoast Stampers buy/sell/trade forum was looking for the Funky Floral stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  I was pretty sure that I had that stamp set but wasn't sure what it looked like so I took a look at it.  Turns out it is one of my faves and it's on my "never get rid of" list.  But more importantly, seeing it put it forefront in my mind when it came time to make this card.  Who needs new stuff when I've got plenty of old stuff I can use!

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is looking for a die cut.  I've got that with my little leafy sprig so I've got that covered too!

Thanks for stopping by!  My teamies at both CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have got some fabulous cards to show you for these challenges so I hope you are inspired to play along!

Supplies
Stamps:  Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Hello Hello (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)

Tag You're It 76

We've got another great challenge for you at Tag You're It.  This fortnight our tag design is brought to you by Emily Midgett.

I based my tag on the colors that Emily used and also managed to incorporate an animal, a deer to her bear.  I didn't have a stamp that mimiced the pinebough swag at the top of her tag so I improvised with some washi tape (so I could play along with the Stamp Ink Paper challenge), some pine tree die cuts, and a sentiment that is generally in the shape of some swag.  I added some sequins to take up some of that white space.   I'm also adding this at the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

The stamp and die cut combo that I used here is an inexpensive set that I got at my local Michael's store last year and this is the first time I inked it up.  I can only imagine that I had a coupon or it was on sale for a price that couldn't be beat because I don't usually buy my stamping supplies there.  So long story short, the deer die cut does not match the deer stamped image.  Say what???????  Isn't that the point of having a stamp and die set!  [You might be able to see in the image that the lines of the stamp don't match the lines of the die]  The company that makes these images is a well-established company in the crafting industry and I would have expected that their quality control was a bit better than it is. 

Anyway all this in a way to say how important it is to support the smaller "mom-and-pop" shops that are the backbone of the paper crafting industry that we love so much.  I don't have to mention them by name - you know who they are!  Their quality is impeccable and, in my experience, if there is a problem (and those are rare) they are more than happy to rectify it at their own expense.

Ok.  I'm done with my high horse!  It's time to get back to our latest challenge at Tag You're It.  We'd love to see you play along with us so please check out the inspiration from our design team and join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Hampton Art
Paper:  Cloud White (Reverse Confetti); Pool Party (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Soft Suede (Stampin Up!); Versamark
Accessories:  Hampton Art die; Tag Sale Quilted die (Papertrey Ink); sequins (Verve); washi tape; seam binding ribbon; crochet thread

Tag You're It 74

This is our second week at the Tag You're It challenge after our summer hiatus.  Our tag inspiration comes from Bev - she of Happy Dance fame!  What a fun theme!

I didn't have a bathing suit stamp but I did have this party girl holding a giant glass of champagne.  That's almost the same thing, right?  Actually the dress on this girl is a wide-open, white space so I thought I'd add some black stripes (like the bathing suit) on my tag.  I used a colored pencil and I think I should have sharpened it a bit before "drawing" on my lines because my stripes are a bit sloppy and this girl looks a bit like a jailbird to me!  Oops!

Over at Stamp, Ink, Paper it's an "anything but a card" week so this tag meets that for sure and I almost never remember to check out the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge but this week I did, and as luck would have it, it's "anything goes."

Thanks for stopping by!  There's some great inspiration from the Tag You're It design team so you won't want to miss it.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:   Cheers (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Black (Simon Says Stamp); Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!); Bristol Smooth (Strathmore)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Jet Black (Altenew); Prismacolor Pencils
Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); red enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); red satin ribbon (Ellen Hutson); black seam binding ribbon

Tag You're It 68

Not only am I flabbergasted that it is Friday already, but also March is nearly over.  How did THAT happen?  Time marches on and so do papercrafting challenges!  Today I'm pleased to show you the latest challenge at Tag You're It with inspiration provided by the amazing Gayatri Murali.

How cute is Gayatri's tag?!?!!!  That dog!  I tried to recreate some of the elements of the tag with the supplies I have so I started by embossing some brickwork with embossing paste on the actual tag then I added a little dog house and my furry friend.  I placed my sentiment vertically too.

There are a couple of die-related challenges this week and since I used three on this tag I'll be including it at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as well as AAA Cards challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check out the inspiration from the Tag You're It challenge design team.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Who Let the Dogs Out (Technique Tuesday)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Riding Hood Red, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Prismacolor Pencils 
Accessories:  Dog Icons die, Quote Tag (Paper Smooches); Mini Brick stencil (The Crafters Workshop); embossing paste (Dreamweaver); baker's twine

My Hero

There are some fun colors this week at Color Throwdown.  Whenever I see colors like that it makes me think of my super hero stamps!  So I grabbed one of them and sat down to color.

A couple of years ago I made a tag using the female super hero version of this stamp set and it's one of my favorite projects.  I keep it on a shelf around my stamping desk and I took it out for a little inspiration as I contemplated this challenge.  I ended up CASing myself and now I've got a matching set!  And I'll also admit that the tag challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge was a big influence on my design too!

The other day I had a terrible time getting a good photo of a card that I had made so I did a little photography experiment with this tag.  Although I think I've got a decent amount of light on my cards the colors never look quite right when I'm looking at the pictures that I take.  I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and I'm so envious when I look at other blogs and see cards that are photographed so well.  So for this tag I used my phone (which has a very nice camera) and I took the photo from directly above (while the tag was flat on some patterned paper) to see if I would get better results.

Well, the experiment results are that the colors are WAY OFF in this picture!  The red looks like Cherry Cobbler and the blue looks like Baja Breeze but I actually used Real Red and Bashful Blue (which are quite different).  And you can barely see the green that I used on the belt and top of the boots.  I think I'll go back to the old way of taking my pictures :(

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Super Boy (My Favorite Things); Super (Paper Smooches); Bright Days (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Real Red, Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up!); White (Catherine Pooler)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!); Jet Black (Altenew); Prismacolor Pencils
Accessories:  Basic Bookmark 2 die (Papertrey Ink); baker's twine

Tag You're It 66!

Well it's time for a new challenge at Tag You're It!  This time around our guest featured artist is Maureen Merritt and she created this gorgeous spring-time tag for our inspiration.  My Tag You're It teamies must think I'm crazy because I saw all those pretty flowers and thought of snowflakes!

I followed Maureen's layout for my tag - some images in the top and bottom corners, a dark layer peeking out on the bottom of the tag, and a sentiment in the white space, plus a couple of die cut snowflakes for good measure.

There's a die cut challenge going on at Stampin' Royalty and since I haven't played along over there in a dog's age I thought I would this time around.  I'll also enter this in the anything goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

We'd love to how you are inspired by our challenge this week at Tag You're It.  Maybe you won't think of snowflakes like I did, but something entirely different!  Our design team has made some beautiful tags to inspire you so be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Snowflakes (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Gift Card Holder Tag (Reverse Confetti); Funky Flakes die (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps); Basic Rhinestones (Stampin' Up!); baker's twine

Tag You're It 63!

Our first challenge of 2017 is still going on at Tag You're It.  I'm joining in this week with a wee tag I made using a new Christmas die that I got recently.  Our inspiration tag is by our featured designed Karin Akesdotter.

Karin's tag is so adorable!  I took my cues from the soft blue background and the round white tag.  I didn't have the tag die that she used so I made my own!  Mine is just a small circle that I sponged blue ink on layered on top of a slightly larger pierced circle.  I added a small circle at the top for a ribbon to be looped through.  And it occurs to me that this tag could also be used as an ornament for my Christmas tree!  And by the way there's an "anything but a card" challenge going on at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'll be adding this over there as well.

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget about our challenge at Tag You're It.  We'd love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky (Distress)
Accessories:  Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Manger die (Penny Black)

Tag You're It 60!

Thanks abound at a lot of challenges lately.  It's that time of year and I decided to combine my newest project, for Tag You're It, with a few thanks challenges.  Our featured artist at Tag You're It is Diane Jaquay and she has given us this beautiful tag with warm colors and lots of leaves to CASE.

I tried to keep true to the colors and the overall leafy design and added a few touches of gold in the die cut sentiment, the ribbon, and the cord (none of which look gold in this pic - a photographer I am not).

There's a "thankful" challenge at The Paper Players and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'm going to add my tag there.  And incidentally, this tag is not just a tag.  I can easily stick it to a card front and I've got an easy peasy card.

Thanks for stopping by.  And stop by the Tag You're It challenge to check out the tags  from our design team.  I hope you'll be inspired to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:   Leaf Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip, Brushed Gold (Stampin' Up!); Pure Ivory (Gina K)
Ink:  Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgundy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Fall Foliage die (Tim Holtz); Leaf Prints die (Papertrey Ink); Thanks Script die (Mama Elephant); gold ribbon, gold cord (Stampin' Up)

Tag You're It 56!

Finally we have made it to Friday!  I don't like to wish my life away, but man, it feels good when Friday finally gets here!  I will finish this work week with a new challenge from Tag You're It where our featured designer is the super talented Taheerah Atchia.  She's got a great design for us that is super easy to dress up or down!

I spent quite a bit of time last weekend doing some stamp-shop browsing and found a lot of shiny gold and glimmery gold things with Christmas themes that I really loved.  So I had gold and Christmas on my mind when I finally sat down to make my tag for this challenge.  The subtle dotted background on Taheera's inspiration became gold embossed snowflakes on my tag and the big sentiment was a no-brainer for me:  a happy holiday sentiment that I cut out three times for dimension and went over with some gold Wink of Stella for a bit of sparkle!  There's a clean and simple challenge going on at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge so I'll be entering this over there as well.

Happy Friday to all of you and thanks so much for stopping by to visit.  I hope you have some time to play along with us at Tag You're It.  Our design team has made some beautiful tags so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Black (Simon Says Stamp); White (Spectrum Noir)
Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Hand Lettered Holiday die (WPlus9); metallic gold embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi); satin ribbon (Ellen Hutson); gold Wink of Stella pen; black crochet thread

Tag You're It 48!

All I can say today is TGIF!  It's a long weekend coming up for us in the US and it will be so nice to have three days off in a row!  It's the unofficial start of summer and more importantly, Monday is Memorial Day where we take time to remember and honor those who died while serving in the armed forces.  Our latest inspiration at Tag You're It, designed by Bobby, honors this day.

This is my one and only flag stamp.  It's got a bit of a faded look to it and I love it.  I stamped some firework images in kraft ink behind it to break up all the white space and added a simple, heartfelt sentiment.  There's an Anything Goes challenge going on at Simon Says Stamps so I'll be adding this over there as well!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to pop on over to Tag You're It and check out the tags from my fellow teamies.  You'r going to love them!  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Old Glory (Deep Red); USA 1776 (Waltzingmouse)

Paper:  Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Night of Navy, Real Red, Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories:  Tag Sale Quilted die (Papertrey Ink); seam binding ribbon; baker's twine

Tag You're It 42

TGIF!  I can't believe I did it but I managed to use patterned paper on each project that I made this week!  I've got oodles and oodles of patterned paper and it's probably a pipe dream to think that I'll use it all one day, but I challenged myself to use it more often and somehow managed to use it for the last four projects. I'm pretty sure that I won't use it EVERY day in the future - insert sheepish grin here - but I'll tell you it sure felt good to cut into some of that paper!

Today there's a new challenge at Tag You're It with a tag designed by Marybeth Lopez and it's going to make you think of spring!

I had the same tag die that Marybeth used so I embarked on a CASE of her tag.  I switched up some of the colors and added some texture behind the flowers with embossing paste and a stencil.  There's a "touchy feely" challenge going on at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and they are looking for texture so I'm going to add this over there as well.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to check out the inspiration from the design team at Tag You're It.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Old Olive (SU); Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Early Espresso (SU)
Accessories:  Tag Sale Quilted die, Button Stacks die, Button Stacks II die (Papertrey Ink); Stitched Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Leafy die (Reverse Confetti); Basket stencil (Stencil Girl); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver); seam binding ribbon; crochet thread

Tag You're It 35

Happy Friday!  I've actually been on vacation from work this week and I can hardly believe that it's Friday already.  One week down, another to go.  Hopefully the next one will go a little slower!

Today there's a new challenge at Tag You're It.  And this week we are joining the amazing Tracey McNeely for her 25 Days of Christmas Tags.

I don't have one of those big old-fashioned Christmas lights but I do have holly leaves and I do have polka dots so I used both of those on my tag.  And I kept the sentiment the same because "joy" is really what that season is all about!

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is Christmas so I'm going to enter this over there as well.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to pop on by Tag You're It and Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags for loads of inspiration!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Spruce & Sprigs (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Naturals White (Neenah); Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink); Gold Foil (SU)
Ink:  Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Basic Bookmark II die, Wet Paint hholidaly die (Papertrey Ink); Grove Branch die (Memory Box)

Christmas Cheer

My vacation is winding down and I have been strangely absent from my stamp room for the last few days.  I thought I'd have lots of time to get inky while off from work, but other things seem  to have taken up a lot of my time this past week, Thanksgiving included.  But I did manage to get some crafting time in last night making a card for the Color Throwdown and Sketch Saturday challenges (I chose sketch #223).

I recently picked up some patterned paper at TJMaxx for a ridiculously cheap price.  Lord knows I didn't need any more but it was a bargain and I was weak!  I've been dying to use it ever since so I took the opportunity presented by the layers in the sketch to use some of it.  The color challenge called for some silver to I die cut this deer from Silver Glimmer paper because in the fantasy land that is my stamp room deer are also silver (as well as being the boring light brown ones I find eating the plants in my garden).

I wanted to share one more photo with you about this card.  I was setting up to photograph it and as I was adjusting the settings on my camera, someone wandered into the shot.

Talk about nosy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday); Distressed Grid (Creative Embellishments)

Paper:  Kraft, Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink); Dove Gray (WPlus9); Basic Black, Silver Glimmer (SU); Snow Village (Pink Paislee)

Ink:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Silver Metallic (Encore)

Accessories:  Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Deer Trio die (Impression Obsession)

Happy Birthday for Color Throwdown 233 and Simon Says Stamp

I haven't had a chance to do a whole lot of crafting this so far this weekend.  However, I did find time this morning to finish a card that I started Friday night.  Yay for me!

The colors are from Color Throwdown and the layout is from Simon Says Stamp.  Lately it seems like I've been seeing a lot of cards made for Simon Says Stamp challenges so I finally took some time to check it out.  This week they've got a couple of sketches to choose from and I picked this one because that half circle caught my eye.

Oh, shoot I've just realized that I've put the sentiment in the wrong place :(  Figures my first time participating in their challenge and I go and do it WRONG!!!  I think I'll link it up anyway, with apologies to the DT and especially to Dawny who took the time to design this great sketch.  I promise to do better next time!

Last night I had the privilege of attending the production of Les Miserable at my old high school.  My nephew was in it and, although I'm probably biased, I've got to say that it was fantastic.  The set was out of this world and the performances were nothing short of amazing.  The young men and women who had the lead roles had beautiful voices and I know that several of them have professional acting and singing aspirations.  If last night was any indication I can't imagine that won't realize their dreams some day!

Thanks for stopping by!