more CASE adventures

The Less is More challenge blog have more than 1000 followers and someone wondered whether Blogger would break if every follower posted an entry, so the challenge this week is anything Clean and Simple goes towards the effort of 1000 links!  I have confidence that Blogger won't break, but it's fun to try, isn't it?  Won't you join us this week?  I've made this one-layer card as my first effort:

I was inspired by this card that Leah O'Brien posted in the September Pals Hop.  I used Crumb Cake and Early Espresso card stock, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Poppy Parade and Early Espresso ink, Gently Falling and Curly Cute stamp sets and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.  It looks like the sentiment is crooked, but it could just be my poor photography skills (or it could be both - sigh).


The Jingle Belles aren't trying to set any records this week, but I may have a record for most failures of imagination.  The challenge, Happy Hybrid Holidays simply asks us to create a card incorporating at least one digital stamp or element.  That shouldn't be so hard, should it?  I fired up My Digital Studio and found some Christmas stamps I don't have in rubber.  It was difficult to choose, to begin with, and then even more difficult to design a card.  huh - I may need more practice with MDS.  This is my final effort, which is a CASE of Mary Fish's design:

Supplies are: card stock - Riding Hood Red, Garden Green, Whisper White; stamp set - Four the Holidays; ink - Riding Hood Red; MDS stamps - Holiday Blitz; punch - 1-1/4" square; Stampin' Dimensionals.


Now that I've got it photographed and uploaded here, I'm thinking it's a fairly clean and simple design, so I believe I'll submit it for both Jingle Belles and Less is More.


At some time during the afternoon today, I realized I have a 10-for-$10 stamp-a-stack scheduled for Thursday evening (and again Saturday morning) but I have no cards ready - oops.  The Gently Falling card would be perfect, except I don't have enough Small Open-End Envelopes.  If I don't get totally inspired soon, we could do it in A2 size.


I do have this one ready, which started as a CASE of this card by Mary Rindal:

Supplies are: stamp sets - Pursuit of Happiness, Flower Fest; ink - Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder; card stock - Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray; Big Shot with Ovals die; Stampin' Dimensionals, sponge dauber.


Since tomorrow is my wonderful husband's birthday, I think I'll be pretty busy designing and cutting Wednesday!

colour adventure

LOVE this combination - the challenge this week at colourQ:

(in spite of the origin from a certain homemaker diva I avoid at every occasion)

 

There are several beautiful cards linked there, check them out.  My first idea was to stamp outline flowers (Flower Fest or Fifth Avenue Floral) in the brighter colors on Whisper White, mat with Basic Gray and use the colors for a sentiment and card base.  I may still attempt that, but it's not what happened after I got the stamp pads out.  There was a copy on my worktable of a stunning card Monica Gale did in neutrals earlier this year, and I thought it might look nice in these bright colors.

I'm just not sure - I love the colors, I love the stamp sets, I love the little flowers, I'm tickled that the print on the designer series paper coordinates with the embossing on the turquoise - but I'm just not sure about the overall effect.  Maybe it's too busy? 

Details:  stamp sets - Nature Walk and Bring on the Cake; card stock - Basic Gray, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Poppy Parade; designer series paper - Poppy Parade; ink - Basic Gray, Certainly Celery; punches - Boho Blossoms, 2-3/8" scallop circle; tools - stylus, sponge dauber.

The little flowers are each two layers of the scalloped flower from the Boho Blossoms punch, scrunched around the end of the stylus from my Simply Scored.  I also used the stylus to hold the flower layers together after putting a dot of Multipurpose liquid glue on the bottom of the inner layer, and to hold the completed flower in place on the card for the few seconds it takes the glue to dry. 

After I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Whisper White that was 15/16" wide, I centered it in the 2-3/8" scallop circle punch to get those two large scallops on each side. I used my indispensable tabletop cutter to trim the long edges so that the scallops were even.  Finished, it's 14/16" wide, so it probably would be easier to start with that measurement the next time I'm looking for something a little different to highlight a sentiment.

alteration adventure

Last week, I found a new challenge blog - LESSology - I thought it would be fun to try some things besides cards, so I thought about altering a book for Challenge #1.

Last month when I was shopping at Goodwill for craft supplies with AJ and her sisters, I came across a matched pair of dark green leather bound books for a quarter each that I bought specifically for a future, as-yet-undecided craft project.  They look pretty decorative sitting on top of the glass-front bookcase where I keep my sets of books and cool-looking vintage books.  I couldn't alter them for this project.  Chances are I won't ever alter them, because they're books, and they're leather bound, and they look cool, but it could happen.

Earlier this week I went to Goodwill to look for a child's book, preferably a board book, to alter.  The only one I found was cute and bright and cheerful and may help some disadvantaged young person who can only afford twenty-five cent books to learn to love books and reading.  I couldn't alter that book for this project.  I went to the Dollar Store and found a board book with too many words to appeal to a young child and illustrations that didn't look they would appeal to an older child, so I thought I could alter that book for this project.

But, I couldn't think of anything even slightly original to do with it - my only idea was to treat it like a scrapbook and put photos in it.  So, I wondered, why don't I just use a photo album?  I remembered that I had one at home, and I didn't like the cover much, but it's perfect for wallet-size photos of the world's cutest grandson.  I almost never make projects for myself, but this one will be in my purse and pulled out as often as I can find anyone to listen to my bragging:

 I used some retired Stampin' Up! designer series paper and cut a label using the Matchbox BigzXL die with my Big Shot.  The label is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and the bow was one of those hanger ribbons from inside a pair of slacks.  Does anyone really use those hanger ribbons?  I just use hangers that have clips, and the ribbons tickle me or irritate my skin or flop outside and look stupid, so I cut them out and throw them in my stash.  This is what that album looked like before - just not something that suits my taste:

adventure with vintage

Just a quick post this evening (I KNOW - four consecutive days - WOW) to play along at Shopping Our Stash for challenge 17 where we were asked to sort through our stash and pull out some vintage or shabby elements and/or distress our projects this week.  As much as I've always admired the vintage look, I've never felt I could *do* it.  I can't begin to define shabby chic; sometimes I recognize it when I see it, but not consistently.  I pulled out my Distressing Essentials Kit with every intention of using it, and pulled out some stamp sets I thought have a vintage feel - Notably Ornate and Nature's Pace - and concentrated on muted colors - Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory and River Rock card stock with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede inks and Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder Stampin' Write markers:

The Distressing Essentials Kit is still unused, but I did use some Crumb Cake ink to "distress" the Vintage Wallpaper embossing and the River Rock mat behind the focal point -  does that count?  And there's just no way I was brave enough to rough up the edges after I worked so hard...

seeing double adventure

I had some fun with the challenge for week 32 at Less is More to have two of something on a one-layer card:

I stamped two leaves from the two-step stamp set Gently Falling.  Two-step stamp sets have a stamp for the outline and a stamp for the filler, so each of my two leaves were stamped twice, once in Tangerine Tango and once in Cajun Craze.  I tied some Early Espresso baker's twine twice around the top of the card and tied two bows, then I used my paper piercer and mat pack to pierce two rows of holes in the lower corner.  The sentiment, stamped in Early Espresso on the More Mustard base, is from the holiday set Grateful Greetings. 

This is another set that will easily add some versatility to your collection - there are three sentiments for each of four holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day).  Each holiday has its own font style, so if you use more than one on any project it will be fully coordinated.  Here is the inside of my card:

Our weather here in Michigan is more fall-like this week than I'd prefer - it felt like the right time to change the background on my blog and I may change the welcome flag at the end of the driveway, too (if it stops raining).  There was a waning but nearly-full moon just above the tree line this morning, so I was inspired to get my camera out before breakfast.  Although the moon became invisible in the photo, you can see the beginnings of autumn colors in the black locust tree on the left:

ATC adventure

This didn't turn out nearly as elegant as it was in my imagination, but I had a go at adding an ATC element for DECK the Halls (week 37) at Jingle Belles, where the instructions were "any or all of the following:

make a freestanding (2.5 x 3.5") xmas-themed Artist Trading Card

OR

add an ATC-sized element to your holiday card

OR

incorporate a playing card into your design

OR

use a recycled xmas card (or an element from

one!) on your (newly made) holiday card!"

I've made ATCs before and I usually like them, but this one seems a little bland to me, in spite of the Iridescent Ice embossing powder on the Tree Trimmings stamp.  And, looking at the photo, I think I should have the sentiment at the top and the ornament closer to the bottom of the ATC element.

I may try it again.  If you want to try something like it, you could replace the retired Deck the Halls (well at least that unexpectedly fits the theme well) designer series paper with a background stamped using the Music Notes Stampin' Around wheel.  I debossed (because I put it in upside down) Textured Very Vanilla card stock with the Textured Impressions Designer Frames embossing folder, punched out the center with the extra-large oval and mounted it on Stampin' Dimensionals above the Always Artichoke/Iridescent Ice embossed Tree Trimmings stamped on River Rock card stock.  Another extra-large oval punched from River Rock card stock is stamped with the sentiment from Bells & Boughs, also in Always Artichoke.  I sponged River Rock ink around all the edges, because somewhere recently (possibly on our Llama Blog Hop?) I read a tip that sponging all the elements with one color will tie them all together.  It does look better sponged than it did without.  I recommend doing the sponging before the elements are glued on, and you can probably guess how I thought of that helpful tidbit...

bubble adventures

Several years ago, at an AKA National Convention, my husband became fascinated by a bubble-blowing machine and befriended the creator, who sent him the plans for the machine.  He has been building his own versions since then, and we both enjoy watching children of all ages frolic in the bubbles.  We were in Milwaukee at the Frank Mots International Kite Festival this past weekend and this was the view from my lawn chair in the shade of a SportBrella Sunday afternoon:

At the same festival in 2010, the monarch migration went through Veteran's Park on Saturday and the dragonfly migration went through on Sunday - incredible!  So I had butterflies on my mind this evening when I started thinking about the Birds, Bugs, and Beasts challenge at Shopping Our Stash, and this is what I created:

You'll recognize the Flirtatious designer series paper, the color combination (Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Whisper White) and the Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon from the altered notebook in my last post.  The stamp set is Floral Fillers, stamped in Wisteria Wonder on vellum cardstock and embossed with sparkly Iridescent Ice, because it reminds me of soap bubbles. 

Floral Fillers is one of those "must-have" sets from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog, since most of the stamps match punches, which is a huge weakness for me.  I've been known to buy a stamp set I didn't think I liked, just because it matched a punch (but I digress).  The punch on this card is Butterfly. 

blog hop adventure

Welcome to our first ever Watercooler Llama Blog Hop!  I'm so excited, I'm hopping up and down on my computer chair!  There are links at the end of this post to take you to the next llama blog, or back to the main llama page.

We're touring the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog as well as the Holiday Mini, and you've probably just arrived from Jean's blog Rogue Thoughts, where she's featuring stamp sets from the Greetings section of the catalog.  The Greetings section is where my first-ever Stampin' Up! set came from - Sincere Sentiments - I still love it and use it frequently.  I'd like to share with you some things I've made using new sets from that section:

The Perfectly Penned set includes four all-occasion sentiments in this fabulous font - it is fast becoming my most-used and top favorite set!  This is a clean-and-simple layout from a quarter-sheet wonder set of five cards I made using Paisley Petals designer series paper.  Card stock is Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede, and Old Olive; the ink is Soft Suede.

I found this spiral-bound notebook in the $1 section with a little-girl cover design - I think it will be a nice gift for a workshop hostess now that it's a little more grown up:

I recovered both the front and back with Flirtatious designer series paper using our Multipurpose Liquid Glue (nothing is more perfect for a permanent hold with a little "wiggle" time at first, since I can't ever get anything straight the first try).  I cut card stock circles from Concord Crush and Wisteria Wonder and mounted one of the doilies snipped from the "specialty" piece of the Flirtatious dsp.  I stamped this fun sentiment from the cheerful set Pursuit of Happiness with Concord Crush on Wisteria Wonder, punched it out with Curly Label and sponged the edges with Concord Crush and a sponge dauber.  I used Stampin' Dimensionals to make it stand out, so you can see a little more of the doily behind it.  I tied a little bow in the spiral binding using Wisteria Wonder 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon.

You may be starting to think that my stop on the tour spills from the Greetings section right into the Accessories & More section (I am).  Stamps, ink, & paper are essential, but I'd be struggling without our adhesives and other great tools.  I'm still new at using embellishments, but I jumped right into a punch addiction as soon as I became a demonstrator.  I received a card in a punch art swap last year that I just had to recreate:

Isn't that festive?  The sentiment (we are still in the Greetings section, after all) is from the versatile set Delightful Dozen.  If you're new to card making (or need a fresh look) I would recommend this set first - 12 different holidays/occasions, each one different in style, will give a lot of variety to your projects!  The only ink on this card is Cajun Craze.  Card stock is Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, and Old Olive.  The sentiment is on a Modern Label punch, raised on Stampin' Dimensionals.  Other punches I used are Bird Builder (branches), Owl Builder (owls, ghost, broom), Scallop Oval (ghost), Five Petal Flower and Small Oval (witch hat).

I hope you've enjoyed our tour so far - click on the link below to see Debbie's Clever and Cute blog featuring products from the Holiday Mini!

If you need to return to the main llama page, this link will take you there:

Please leave a  comment if you're inclined - I appreciate them all - and stop back again another day, I'd love to have you.

adventures in CASE-ing

Although I completely agree with Leslie about the acronym CASE - I, too, thought it was Copy And Share Everything - I do like Stephanie's interpretation - Copy And Selectively Edit.  I'm particularly excited that it came up this week at Jingle Belles, since I loved Michelle's card last week so much that I was unable to imagine any other way to incorporate the Midas touch. Well, I suppose I could blame my own lack of imagination, but I kind of like making it sound like someone else's fault, especially if it's because I can send you to see Michelle's awesome work!  So, before I miss the submission deadline once again, here is my card:

I used the Circle Circus stamp set that Michelle used and added Tree Trimmings and Christmas Greetings.  I used a Versamark ink pad and a pen to draw the hanger lines.  I went over the Very Vanilla card stock with my Embossing Buddy before inking the ornaments and hangers and again before inking the sentiment, but I should have used it again (very carefully) between the ornaments and the hangers.  I used Stampin' Emboss powder in Gold and Silver and I love this card!  Michelle's is more clever, though, since she used the Circle Circus set for all the ornaments.

Fortunately for me, the colour theme at Less is More this week is Metallic, so I think this card qualifies, there, too, and I'm not 6 minutes from posting deadline, there,so you could check out the challenge and play along with us. If nothing else, at least check out the fabulous submissions - they get many every week.  I'm sure it's at least partly because both Mandi and Chrissie are so talented and sweet about sharing tips and techniques.

Back to the subject of CASE-ing, not only was I super excited that Stephanie CASEd my scraps card at Jingle Belles, but I also discovered that my friend Buffy recently CASEd the card I made in our Watercooler Llama swap.  Really, I'm kind of embarrassed (or perhaps the better word is humbled), because both Stephanie and Buffy make totally awesome cards, but I'm kind of excited, too, and don't have anyone else to brag to other than you - so thanks for reading this far!

Be sure to check back this weekend when Buffy and I and several more of our Watercooler Llama friends will be part of the first-ever Llama Hop!  I'm REALLY excited about that, since all the llamas are so talented!