Veneer Obsession

I'll admit it, I have an obsession with veneer. One set I bought because I couldn't resist is these houses. I wasn't sure what to do with them besides a house warming card but I only know so many people moving. That doesn't account for the 36 veneers I have! The Handmade Cards challenge for wood, metal, and cork over at Fab Moxie World is another great excuse to go crazy with veneer. This is my second card for the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge #46.

I wanted to feature two applications for veneer in one card. The sentiment banner is left naked and embellished with a gold rub on. The houses are coated in Papaya pigment ink from A Muse Studio. The pigment ink application is so fun because you just squish it into the ink pad. The only downside is you have to wait  at least 30 minutes for it to dry before you add it to your project.

 Supplies: Paper is from the Studio Calico September 2013 Card Kit, rub on is from Pebbles, Papaya ink from A Muse Studio, Studio Calico veneer banner, houses from Pima.

Reverse Sketch

I was really taken with this week's CAS(E) this Sketch and created two cards for it. The first one I made leaves the center element empty but fills the card base. I masked the the center section with a post it
and covered the card base with blooms for a bold look. The sentiment is a golden rub on from Pebbles which is embellished with a button and bakers twine.

Images from Studio Calico, Cameo Coral and Ruby Red inks from Stampin' Up!

Gold at the end of the rainbow

It's been awhile since I've played in the Fab Moxie challenge and this weeks image is an intriguing one. I like the challenge of taking something that is clearly a digital creation and then transforming it into something with another medium. This was the perfect job for one of the first Stampin' Up! sets I bought way back in 2003. It hasn't been used much since but basic shapes don't go out of style.

I first inked with the lighter color ink and then stamped on the darker from the other side. I wasn't concerned about getting a true ombre effect but if you are, a quick fine mist of water over the inked surface before stamping will do the trick. I finished it off with this fun and bold golden rub on from Pebbles. After all, there's supposed to be gold at the end of the rainbow! The card size is cut to 3 1/2 x 5 1/2.

Thanks so much for the visit and I hope you play along too!

Floral Smile

I'm playing along in two challenges on this sunny Seattle Sunday. I've based my sketch off the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge which inspired me to use the long and narrow bottle image. I've been thinking about how to execute this sketch for a few days in once I read the CAS Sunday challenge about getting floral it came to me...flowers!

I stamped the bottle image on glassine paper and let it dry for 24 hours then cut it out. I really like the subtle color change in the blossoms that are behind it. The flower base is stamped in Barely Banana and the centers are Summer Sun from Stampin' Up!. After getting the sentiment banner on there it still seemed naked so I added a few enamel dots for a little something special. Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: Flower and Bottle images from Studio Calico, inks - Stampin' Up!, Sentiment - A Muse Studio, Glassine paper, and My Minds Eye enamel dots.

Muse #30 and Studio Calico Aug Kit

My Studio Calico card kit for August arrived this week and I've been dying for a night in my craftroom to play with it. I think it's my favorite so far which is not what I expected at all. When I saw the preview of the images I had a hard time thinking about how to use them but all I needed was a little time to sit and play to fall in love. I chose to play along in the Muse challenge #30 because I was really inspired by the saturated colors and spritzed appearance. The pink printed paper from my kit was perfect! I then stamped the stars for some color contrast.

I couldn't stop at just one card with the kit so I created a tag that is not part of the challenge but I'll share anyway :)

This has the black & white washi tape I'm obsessed with along with monochromatic stamping and enamel dots. The sentiment banner is my pop of color for this simple but elegant and trendy tag.

Trendy Mama

The CAS Challenge over at SCS this week is to make a card with no sentiment but where it's not needed because the image conveys the occasion. When I first started thinking about this challenge the obvious path was birthday or a holiday like Christmas, Easter, Valentines, or Halloween. I pushed myself for another approach and couldn't think of one for Mother's Day but came close at Baby.

I missed the opportunity really decorate a nursery since as we prepared for our adoption we didn't know gender, age, or even how many kids we would end up with. If I had it to do over and knew I would have an infant arrive I'd go trendy with gender neutral colors of grey and yellow with accents in aqua, lime, and orange. I'm sure there would be chevrons in some form and many other DIY projects stolen from Pintrest. This card has my dream trend forward nursery all wrapped in one.

Happy Mother's day to all the women out there who have held a baby in their arms or their heart. Thanks for the visit!

Supplies: Crib from A Muse Studio, Chevrons from Savvy Stamps, Barely Banana ink, black, various copic markers.

CAS(E) this Sketch #25

Here's my submission for this fun CAS sketch. I'm usually challenged to use sentiments that have a vertical shape but this sketch was the perfect inspiration I needed to use it. Black ink, a single strip of washi tape, and white paper...does it get much more clean and simple than that? I didn't set out to be that minimalist but it's how it turned out and I'm really happy with the results. Thanks so much for the visit!

Supplies: Doodle Bug Designs washi tape, A Muse Studio Images - Geek Chic

Make a Wish

I never seem to have enough masculine cards on hand. This is what happened yesterday on my husbands birthday...ooops! I really missed the mark on celebrating his birthday this year because there is a lot going on at work and life in general. Our smoke alarm was low on battery and decided to start chirping this morning just after 5:00. I was too awake to fall back asleep so I got up and created this card for him. The CAS-ual Friday challenge is to have some sparkle on your project and mine comes in the form of flames. I covered them with yellow stickles after coloring with yellow and orange.

CFC97 One of a Kind

Here is my CAS and quick card for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge 97 which is to make a card with flowers and chevrons on it. It's really not much of a challenge for me since I love both those elements so I forced myself to stay away from my traditional chevron images. I used my chevron line to make a repeated pattern on the green for a subtle tone on tone effect. Thanks so much for the visit!
All images are from A Muse Studio

Muse Challenge #11

I adore this week's Muse Challenge! I usually will force myself to be inspired by something less obvious than the layout but Laurie's card this week is just perfection. I couldn't resist using her layout and even similar images. I used the dots for the background but they were too large to have much impact so I layered over the sliced citrus images to fit the theme of the sentiment.

I just LOVE this new Fresh Squeezed set from A Muse Studio, so much fun! Thanks for the visit!

My Hero

Tonight I want to share a card I made for the Muse Challenge #10. I really like Ardyth's card because she proves something "messy" can still be CAS. I will admit I'm a control freak so I have a hard time with techniques like reverse masking because it looks to messy to me and I don't know when to stop. I loved the effect she achieved but knew I'd struggle so I went with a misting approach instead.

I used my star punches on post it notes and then misted with the Papaya Mister from A Muse Studio. I then added some Studio Calico veneer stars and the simple sentiment. Thanks so much for the visit and I hope you play along too!

Bless Your Heart

Seeing this week's Muse Challenge #9 inspired me to piece paper. I recently purchased some tightly nested circle dies that go all the way up to 4"! I was dreaming of making a rainbow in various shades for the ultimate ombre effect but alas my ideas were MUCH bigger than my ability to create. I quickly realized die cutting 13 different papers was going to take some serious work and time. Instead I let my copics which were sitting right in front of me do the heavy lifting. I used one sheet of white paper for all the circles and then just lined up the markers based on their color numbers from lightest to darkest and there you go! 13 different shades of paper at my fingertips.

It was a fair amount of work getting them all colored and glued back into place so I was really nervous to stamp on top of it. I used my white ink pad but it just didn't have the contrast I was seeking. There was no way I was about to emboss for fear of warping the rings. My white gel pen came to the rescue and I carefully traced over the heart. This is also my submission for the Moxie Fab World Ombre Challenge. It's a trend I really love so playing in this one was a no brainer!

If you've read through this all, bless YOUR heart! Sentiment is from A Muse Studio, Southern Sass.

CAS(E) This Sketch #19

Here's a quick card I made with my new Garden Cuts set from Papertrey Ink. I usually favor line flower images so I can color them in but I've been liking the speed I can create with these. I did a little masking with post it notes to create the box shape and then added a few cut out leaves and flowers. It's a great sketch this week, be sure to play along over at CAS(E) This Sketch!

Muse Challenge #8

My obsession with the Geek is the New Chic set continues for this weeks Muse Challenge. I was inspired by the layout and I loved the used of patterned paper for the card base which I'm not usually inclined to do. I kept it really simple since I wanted it to have a modern hipster kind of feel since it will probably be given to someone who fits the "hipster" title.

Thanks SO much for the visit! All supplied are from A Muse Studio - Geek is the New Chic, Grapefruit pinstripe paper, Blush twine, Grapefruit Pigment Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black.

Geek Chic

Geek is the New Chic is my favorite new set from the 2013 A Muse Studio catalog. There are a few other close runners up but this set is just so fun, stylish, and fresh...I love it. I found myself really inspired by the Muse #7 challenge. I just love the card and all it's elements. Each thing works so well together and I have a hard time pulling that off so much respect to those who can! For this card I used the colors as my muse and it stretched me to use a few things I would not have gone for on my own.

I'm also playing along with the CAS-ual Friday challenge #93 of color blocking. This is an ombre approach to color blocking but since the theme of the card is chic, anything else just wouldn't have been right!

If you love this set and want to take a look you can get it for just $19.99 and there are also matching dies! Just search the word "geek" here and you can see all the coordinating products. Thanks so much for visiting and looking at my card.


All supplies from A Muse Studio

Set the Table

I was recently reading a fashion trend emerging again is gold. I distinctly remember when it was last in fashion as I've always been partial to silver and I was disappointed I couldn't find silver or platinum edged fine china at the time I was married. A year later before a holiday I decided to splurge and add to my collection so I could serve holiday meals on it. What do you know? They still had the pattern but not in gold, only platinum  I had just missed the cut off and now 14 years later my china is back on trend.

The Moxie Fab Trigger and all it's lovely warm cream tones reminded me of my china so I made this card using gold embossing powder on vanilla cardstock. To replicate the linen I used some soft linen thread looped behind the image on the tag. This week's CAS(E) this sketch was inspiring as well and I used that to create the layout, flipping it to allow the sentiment placement just where I wanted it.

Thanks for the visit and I hope you play along too!

Images from Stampin' Up! & Papertrey Ink, patterned paper from Paper Cottage collection by Basic Grey.

CAS Tags

I've finally found a few minutes to craft! Since I'm in desperate need of thank you cards for all the awesomeness being showered upon us from friends and family, I made a thank you card of course. I played along in the SCS CAS Challenge which is to use tags this week. Here's a super simple and no stamping card. The tags are various SU colors and it's an SU sizzix tag die. The letters are thickers from American Craft.

Study of Blue

Here's a simple card to share that uses assorted blues from my scrap bag. I played with liquid pearls for the first time on this card and have to say I'm quite pleased. This is white from Ranger. I think it took on the slightest tinge of blue from the ink once it dried.

I'll also mention that I'm registered to take a crash course on my DSLR camera weekend after next. I'll finally be able to make use of such a nice piece of equipment and take better photos of my work to share here!

Hello from Savvy Stamps, flowers from Inkadinkado, Ranger Liquid Pearls, all inks and paper from Stampin' Up!