CASE study challenge #4

The CASE Study challenge gives us a card and we are to CASE it.  This is Makiko Jones' last card for us this month:

I love the autumn feel it has!  I had just been playing with my PTI Vintage Basket set, and had colored what are actually apples to make them look like peaches, so this was a case of being in the right place at the right time.  I used many of Maki's elements, the oval scallop, a flower, kraft cardstock.  I really liked the way she added her sentiment, by scalloping the designer paper and then adding a kraft panel with a ribbon to the bottom of the card......I followed suit.  I love the shade of these buttons, so I had to use them, and my sentiment is computer generated using 2 fonts.

Supplies: PTI Vintage Picnic, white, green, kraft cardstock, Heidi Grace designer paper (Jeepers Peepers reverse), peach buttons, flower and ribbon colored pencils, tiny olive button, twine

Lavender and old lace....

Made for the challenge at Simon Says Stamp: "Pearls and Lace".  I started with the doily lace, heat embossing it with white, then used my victorian velvet distress ink to color the background. Then I added the faint script, some sprigs of lavender, and the butterfly, which didn't show up enough for me, so I clear embossed it again on a piece of mauvy pink cardstock, cut it out and popped it above the stamped image.  To finish I added my sentiment tag, some pale pink organdy ribbon and some pale pink pearls.

Supplies: Hero Arts stamps CG168 Circle Doily, S4878 Old Letter Writing, CL383 Antique Engravings, Delta Solidago Sprig, Inkadinkado Round Frames sentiment, white, mauve cardstocks, versamark ink, white and clear embossing powders, victorian velvet distress ink, green and wine markers (lavender sprigs), Palette Burnt Umber ink, pink organdy ribbon, pink pearls

Paper rose

Recently I won a random draw at the CASE study challenge and was able to choose some beautiful ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbons, this pretty swiss dot grosgrain among them.  When I wrote the owner Bonnie to thank her, she pointed me to her challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbons Ramblings.  This time it's to use flowers and ribbons, so I knew I wanted to give it a try, and hopefully win some more of her lovely ribbons!  

Heather made some beautiful paper flowers a few days ago and gave us a link to the tutorial, so this was the perfect excuse to try this new technique.  I don't have any flower punches that would work, so I substituted 3 sizes of die-cut scallop circles, cutting each size 3 times for a total of 9 layers.  I made this flower last night to match the lovely pink of the ribbon and let it dry overnight.  Though not as pretty as the ones Heather made, I'm thrilled with the results using what I had. 

Supplies: white and rose cardstocks, imaginisce Lucy Bird papers, Martha Stewart doily punch, Northwoods, sentiment stamp, shocking pink swiss dots grosgrain ribbon, white twine

Listen to the music

Playing with my new music background stamp.  I have used this quote from August Rush once before, and had it stored on my computer.  My idea was to bring the quote to life, stamping music on every item on my card.  So I started with the background, coloring it in fall colors with distress inks.  Next was the sentiment, stamping lightly over the text with Brilliance Pearlescent Beige.  The birds are an unmounted stamp that Judy sent me last spring; I used a light grey ink for the music on them, then colored in few details with colored pencils and cut them out.  And lastly I stamped the music on a pale gold cardstock, then overstamped the leafy branch in versamark and heat embossed it so I could see it well enough to cut it out.

Supplies: white and parchment cardstocks, versafine onyx black, wild honey, orange marmalade, fired brick, peeled paint and vintage photo distress, Brilliance Pearlescent beige, Stampology black and versamark inks, colored pencils, Hero Arts CG222 Music Background, unknown chickadee stamp, computer-generated sentiment

inspired by Kim Hughes

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a flower girl; they make me happy in every form.  So when I see a new way to make flowers, you know that I'll be all over it.  Today while blog-hopping, I found a new technique to make flowers, and couldn't wait to try it out.  Kim Hughes at PaperCrafts Connection made a card using all kinds of texts and that idea really appealed to me, too, so I couldn't wait to try casing her card.   To make her flower, Kim starts with a paper ring (I made mine with 2 sizes of scalloped circle diecuts), cuts the ring to open it up, and then rolls it, forming petals as she goes.  Give it a try, it's really fun!  I added as my last layer, the leftover circle that was cut from the ring.

All of my texts are stamped, and all of the stamps are Hero Arts. 

Supplies: CG125 Friend Definition, H2141 Manuscript Background, CG222 Music Background, CL342 Everyday Sayings, parcment, red, green cardstock VersaFine Onyx Black ink, Nestabilities Scalloped Circle diecuts

This card was published in the June 2012 issue of CARDS magazine on page 128!

Something old, something new

That's the challenge at The Shabby Tea Room this week.  I just received some new Hero Arts stamps this morning, and the first one I couldn't wait to ink up was the new Music Background cling......it does NOT disappoint!  With a little bit of distressing, doesn't it look just like an old piece of music paper?  After I'd stamped that and ripped the edges, I started looking around for an older stamp......I decided on this Watercolor Rose.  I added some subtle handwriting and more distressing to the edges.  And then I found this old piece of lace, which I believe was a scrap left from the curtains I made for our new dining room back in 1985.  I rubbed some Palette Burnt Umber ink on it to make it look older.  The other brand new thing I added was this pink gingham ribbon, which helped to pull the pink from the rose; it also came this morning in the mail from Really Reasonable Ribbon, my winnings from a challenge I entered last week. 

The effect I was going for was an old-fashioned Valentine; I'm pleased with the way this turned out.

Supplies: pink, parchment, kraft cardstocks, Versafine onyx black, Pallette Burnt Umber, Hero Arts bright pink cube ink, green marker, Hero Arts CG222 Music Background, H3806 Watercolor Rose, LP123 Artistic Windows, CL181 SparkleClear Messages, scrap of lace, bright pink gingham micro ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, twine, Heidi Grace heart stick pins

In the Forest

That's the challenge for this week's 20th challenge at wee Memories: to incorporate any kind of "In the Forest" things i.e. squirrels, deer, trees, birds, owls, mushrooms, frogs...  I immediately thought of Young Deer......he hasn't been used since last Christmas, and it's time to bring him out again to play.

I started with the Friend Definition for the background, then stamped this unknown tree stamp (got it at a stamp convention, there is no identification on it at all) using a combination of markers and inks on a SU label, and inked around the edges. Then I made my tiny tag using an alphabet set and finally added the heart button and the little fawn. 

Supplies:  kraft, parchment, russet cardstocks, twine, heart button, Hero Arts CG125 Friend Definition, D5234 Young Deer, CL137 Small Variety Alphabet

{Embellish} color challenge with squares

Here is this week's Embellish Magazine challenge, sponsored by Inchie Arts.  As soon as I saw the word "inchie", I decided I would work with these hardly-touched miniature stamps from Inkadinkado, from a set called Flower Garden. 

I chose this lovely little rose design, and stamped it 4 times on Hero Arts iris layering paper, a really pretty shade.  Then I used my 1 1/4" square punch to cut them out.  These were arranged on a  square piece of black cardstock, which was then popped above the green card base.  I just found this old lace seam tape yesterday, while going through my sewing basket, and somehow it just seemed right with the roses. 

Supplies: Inkadinkado 98770 Flower Garden clear stamp set, Hero Arts CL181 SparkleClear Messages, iris layering paper, green and black cardstock, Versafine onyx black ink, Talon stretch lace seam tape, black gem

From Anne and Ann!

I received this award from Anne awhile ago and from Ann this morning!  Thank you so much ladies, I appreciate your kind thoughts!  Anne, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to make this post; it's rule #3 that scared me! 

According to the rules, I must do several things:

1. Thank the person who passed it to you; check!

2. Copy it to my blog; check!

3. List 3 things that you love about yourself; screeching halt -that's such a hard one!  I love that I can call myself a breast cancer survivor, and have been given 6 more years so far, enough to see our first grandson come into this world.  I love that I'm an optimistic person, usually choosing to see the best instead of the alternative.  And I love that I have a wonderful, supportive husband who's seen me through the best and worst of my 61 years and that I still have 2 wonderful parents who made me who I am.

4. Post a picture that you love to your blog.

This is a collage I just made of some pictures we've taken in Maine, our favorite destination at this time of year.  We won't be making the trip this year, so of course, I've been thinking about it alot.

5. Pass the award on to 5 others.  There are SO many people who should receive this award, I don't want to choose.  So I'll pass it on to all of you who inspire me on a daily basis.  I'm so glad that I've discovered this wonderful group of like-minded women; you mean the world to me!

Chickadees

My sweet friend Judy Jung sent me this unmounted chicadee stamp last spring, and I thought it would be fun to try and cut it out and use it instead of my usual flowers for the CASE Study challenge, based on a card by Maki Jones.  I colored them with watercolor pencils, blending with a Dove Blender, then cut it out and added some red metallic gems.  The sentiment is from a clear Hero Arts Thanksgiving set, and the papers used for the background and label are from K&Company fall mat pads. 

Paper-pieced pumpkins

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is paper-piecing.  These pumpkins are perfect for doing just that!  I pieced my background with 2 dotty papers, then stamped the pumpkins on top to use as my base for piecing them.  Then I stamped each of them 6 or 7 times, cutting out individual slices to piece together over my base.  After I'd added the sentiment, they looked lonely, so I stamped and cut out some maple leaves to keep them company. 

Supplies: scraps of various printed papers, Hero Arts G5269 Tall Pumpkin, F5270 Traditional Pumpkin, CL119 Happy Thanksgiving (leaf), The Paper Company Autumn Stamp Kit (sentiment)

CASE study #3

Made for the CASE Study #3 challenge, to case Makiko Jones' card:

I'm in full autumn mode now, helped along by our wonderful cooler temps here in Ohio!  I love Maki's card and plan to have a couple of tries at it.  This one was really simple, using some papers from some K&Company mat stacks for my label and background, then stamping and cutting out the pumpkin and maple leaves on various orange/gold/rust cardstocks.

Supplies: K&Company Fall Harvest and Tim Coffey Fall mat pads, various cardstocks, stampcraft maple leaf and Hero Arts F5270 Traditional Pumpkin stamps

Ariel's butterfly

This is Anita's daughter, Ariel; isn't she a pint-sized replica of her Mama?   A week ago, Anita posted some pictures of her son's birthday party on her blog, and I commented how much I liked Ariel's shirt.  Anita wrote back and said she was working on a card inspired by it and asked if I would like to make a card, too.  So here is mine:

I tried to find colors as close to those in Ariel's shirt as I could: hot pink, orange, and yellow.  The Artists Butterfly was a natural choice to bring all those colors together.  I loved Ariel's little ruffled skirt, too, so that's what my pink flowers represent along the bottom of my card.  And the bow represents the one in her hair.  I added lots of glitter and gems to my butterfly (I seem to remember that little girls love them).

To see Anita's card, go to her blog here.  Thanks, Anita, this was fun, forcing this pastel girl to use some colors I might not use on my own! 

Supplies: Hero Arts H5416 Artists Butterfly, LL206 Take Good Care Greetings, brown, pink, orange, yellow cardstocks, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, pink flowers and silk ribbon, orange gems, pink and gold glitter

Sweet Treats

Made for the wee Memories challenge called Sweet Treats with Ribbon.  I have been puzzling all week over what I could make for this challenge (I REALLY want some May Arts ribbon!), but the only treats I have on hand here are these cupcakes.  Finally today, going through my basket of ribbons, I saw this ribbon/yarn that Vera sent me; it looks like confetti to me.  Does anyone remember Funfetti?  It was a little package of rainbow sprinkles that could be added to a cake mix or mixed in with the frosting.  Our oldest son always wanted a funfetti cake for his birthday.  So anyway, I wound this ribbon around a piece of white cardstock, and then cut of a few pieces to add to the frosting on my cupcakes, along with a little glitter.

Supplies: Hero Arts CL158 Cupcakes, white and aqua cardstock, colored pencils, glitter, distress inks