Perfectly CAS - October 2019 Challenge

Hi there

It's time for the second challenge of this new challenge blog, Perfectly CAS, specifically aimed at creating CAS cards, keeping the design to one third of the card or less.

I'll get straight to it, here's the cue card, a super easy one for you...

For my sample card I used a super cute stamp set from Lawn Fawn which I've just inked up for the first time...

I began by softly ink blending a section towards the top of the card with pale blue ink, just so my focal point had a backdrop.  I then stamped and coloured lots of images from the stamp set and die cut them with the co-ordinating dies.  It was then a case of adhering all the images, some popped up on 3D foam.  I finished by stamping the sentiment directly onto the card base and added sparkle to the party hat and gloss to the specs.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Be Hap-pea (with co-ordinating dies)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear; Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Dream Valley - Challenge #211 - Clean and Simple

The challenge linky will remain open for a month, so plenty of time to join in.

Thanks so much for popping by.

Challenge Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Hi guys

I'm honoured to share that the super talented and lovely Michelle Lupton has invited me to join her again this year for her 'Challenge Me a Christmas Card' series.

She asked me to choose any style, theme, technique or product for us both to use on a Christmas card.  I chose Inlaid Die Cuts.

I love this technique.  Not only does it look great, it often leaves you with excess to do a twofer!  That's exactly what happened with mine...

I wanted to go with non-traditional colours as I was using a modern style Christmas tree die.  I began but die cutting two pierced squares, one from white glitter cardstock and the other from rose gold mirri cardstock.  I die cut the tree from each and then inlaid the positive part of the die in the opposite panel, and the negative bitty bits back into the gaps of each original panel, adhering on the back with some paper covered with dry adhesive.  The panels were then mounted on 3D foam onto larger square die cut panels and adhered to the card bases, and a very simple sentiment stamped below in black ink on each card.

I would love to know which version you prefer.  I think I'm leaning towards the glittered panel with the mirri inlay, that may be because mirri card is so difficult to photograph! lol


Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax; Clearly Besotted - Christmas Tree Die
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Tiny Type
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Just Us Girls - Challenge #509 - Trend Week - Frame It
Happy Little Stampers - October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Happy Little Stampers - October Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (option: twinkle)
Always Fun - Challenge #131 - Dies or Punches
Dream Valley - Challenge #211 - Clean and Simple




Please do pop over to Michelle's blog which you can find here, to see what she created with the same technique.

Thanks again, Michelle, for inviting me to join you and your friends for this fantastic card series :)

Less is More Challenge #406

Good morning!

At Less is More starting today we are back with a Colour challenge.  Here is the cue card with the all important details...

Bright or pastel rainbow colours are welcome for this challenge.

Our generous sponsor for October is the fabulous Uniko and the lovely Bev is joining in as our super talented Guest Designer for this challenge so please do pop over and say hi.

I have two cards to share with you for this challenge, both of them using products by Uniko.

Here's the first...

I used stamps from three different Uniko sets for this one.  I used a double chevron stamp and used my MISTI to line up the stamping in rainbow coloours.  I then simply stamped the sentiment and heart in black ink, die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle and popped it up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders: Chevrons, Flower Power #3 (heart), Big & Bold Hugs (sentiment)
• Ink: Altenew - Crimson, Orange Cream, Warm Sunshine, Forest Glades, Caribbean Sky, Lavender Fields, Puffy Heart; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

For my second card I used a fabulous Uniko stencil...

This was a pretty simple make.  I blended through the stencil using Distress Oxide inks in rainbow colours.  The image is quite large so I chose to cut this down with a stitched die cut to maintain white space on my card.  The panel was popped up on 3D foam and I added a small black sentiment strip, with the sentiment embossed in white.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum
• Stamp: Uniko - Just Because
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio; VersaMark
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #362 - Make Your Mark

Dream Valley - Challenge #211 - Clean and Simple

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #37 - CAS

STAMPlorations - October Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

As always, you have two weeks to play along before the linky will close.  And don't forget, this is a colour challenge, not a rainbow challenge, so lots of options for you, just remember to keep your creations clean and simple.

Happy Little Stampers October 2019 CAS Challenge

Good evening, guys

As it's the beginning of another month we have fresh challenges starting over at Happy Little Stampers.  Right now the new CAS challenge is starting so here's the cue card for this month's challenge...

I decided to go with a cute Christmas card, it's always great to get another Christmas card made (of course I'm way behind with my festive makes AGAIN this year!)...

I chose this adorable stamp called 'Sledging Buddies' for my adventure theme.  I stamped the image in grey ink and added minimal colour with coloured pencils.  The scene was then die cut using a pierced square die and popped up on the card base using fun foam.  The sentiment was stamped alongside in black and I finished by adding some shimmer to the snow with a shimmer pen and some fine glitter to the penguin's hat.  It's not Christmas without a bit of sparkle!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Sledging Buddies; Happy Little Stampers - Christmas Joy
• Ink: Memento - London Fog; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear; Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn

Challenge entries:

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #242 - Add a Critter
Try it on Tuesday - Animal Magic
Addicted to CAS - Challenge #169 - Creature





Thanks so much for visiting today.  Please do check out the main blog post, my teamies have some great examples to inspire you using the adventure theme.  And as with all the HLS challenges, the linky will be open until the end of the month.

Less is More Challenge #405

Good morning

I'm back to introduce the next challenge starting right now over at Less is More and this time we are back with a Recipe challenge.  Here is the cue card with the all important details...

so all cards have sparkle plus another from this list

sparkle + gloss

sparkle + matte

sparkle + pearl

sparkle + chalky

Our generous sponsor for this month is Visible Image and just by playing along puts you in the running for our monthly prize!

Ok, I have two sample cards for you, here's the first using the Sparkle + Gloss option...

I used a stitched die to add some background detail to the card base.  I then used a cocktail glass die and cut it out twice, once using white sparkle glitter cardstock and again using a glossy cardstock...boy, was this difficult to photograph!  The glossy cardstock is white with a pink/purple oil on water effect.  I used the glitter cardstock for the glass and inlaid the 'liquid' using the gloss card.  To finish I stamped a simple sentiment in black ink.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Strip; Xcut - Cocktail Glass
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Tiny Type
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Cardstock from stash

Next up I chose the Sparkle + Pearl option...

I die cut two squares using a pierced square die from pearlescent cardstock.  On the smaller panel I stamped and heat embossed the diamond ring in using sparkly silver embossing powder. the die cuts were adhered, the upper one on 3D foam and the sentiment was stamped and heat embossed in silver.  I added more sparkle to the diamond using a sparkle pen but was unable to catch this on camera.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Happy Wedding
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver, Metallic Silver Sparkle
• Cardstock from stash

Thanks so much for joining me today.  This challenge is a great chance to have a rummage in your stash to mix and match your products, I can't wait to see what you create.

Perfectly CAS - September 2019 Challenge

Hi there

I'm super thrilled to be a member of the Design Team of a brand new challenge that is starting right now.  The 'Perfectly CAS' challenge is exactly that, all about creating perfectly CAS (clean and simple) cards by following the rule of one third. 

Our first monthly challenge is an easy one...

Here's my sample card...

I chose a lovely icy blue/lilac shade of textured cardstock for my upper panel.  I then used floral images from a stamp layering set, stamped and embossed the outline image in silver, then stamped the second layer in a blue tone to co-ordinate with the background.  After adhering the panel flat to the base, the sentiment was then stamped in the same blue ink onto a white strip and popped up on 3D foam.  I love this simple sentiment, it could be used for lots of different occasions.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Golden Garden, Leaf Canopy
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Smoke Blue
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #36 - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - September Challenge - Anything Goes with Flowers

Please do pop over to the main challenge blog, here, and check out what the rest of my fabulous teamies are sharing, they have some gorgeous examples for you.  And as this is a monthly challenge there's plenty of time to link up.  Even if you find CAS cards a little daunting, why not give it a go :)

Less is More Challenge #404

Good morning!

Today marks the start of another challenge over at Less is More, and this time we're back with a Theme challenge.  Here's your cue card...

Our generous sponsor for the month of September is Visible Image, so, as always, just by playing along will give you a chance of winning the monthly prize

Just the one card from me this time, and it was a super quick one...

I started with a panel die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  All the text you see here is one stamp, so it was super easy just to stamp and heat emboss in white.  I then used post-it notes to mask the areas around the embossing then ink blended with Distress Oxides.  The panel was then popped up on the card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamp: Avery Elle - Cheers
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Oxides - Squeezed Lemonade, Mermaid Lagoon
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

My teamies are sharing some fabulous projects over on the main challenge blog, please do pop over for more inspiration.  And as always, there's two weeks to play along.

I'll be back with another post this evening, to share details of the first challenge at a new challenge blog, Perfectly CAS, so I hope you'll stop by.  My posts are like buses, nothing for days then two posts in one day!