Cards in Envy - Thankful for You

2 Responses »
Nov 172014

Hello again!  It’s time for another challenge at Cards in Envy.  For the next two weeks, we have a super easy theme for you to follow:  Thankful for You.  That’s right – all you need to do for this challenge is to make an A2 sized thank you card (4.25″ x 5.5″) with no lumpy, bumpy embellishments so that it could be mailed at the standard postage rate.  See – I told you it was easy!  🙂

For my card, I’ve used the current layout from CAS(E) this Sketch!.  For the triangles, I cut a square of designer paper and coordinating mats from colored cardstock.  Then I cut the squares across the diagonal to get the triangles.  This allowed me the supplies to make two “twin” cards at once.  Yay!  After I adhered the triangles to the card bases, I trimmed off the excess from the vertical edges of the cards.  The cards are super simple in style, but I think they will be all right for Operation Write Home since the colors aren’t specific to any particular season.

CIE 11-17-2014

 

If you need additional inspiration, please go check out the Cards in Envy site and see what the rest of the design team has made.  Then create a thank you card following our challenge guidelines and share it with us on the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, November 30.  We’d love to have you play along with us!  Thanks for stopping by today.

All supplies for today’s card are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamp: Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo, Sycamore Street designer paper
Ink: Tangerine Tango

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, Cards in Envy, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

sketchy pink balloons

1 Response »
Oct 292014

I really liked the sketch this past week at CAS(E) this Sketch!, but I never seemed to make the time to create anything for it until just now.  I would have liked to have spent more time with it because it has a lot of really cool potential.  However, this is what I came up with for it.  I did get to play around with inlaid die cuts for the first time, which was fun.  I’ve combined the sketch with the “Pretty Pink Balloons” Hope You Can Cling To challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.com.  The ink color is supposed to match the balloon color… oh well.

CTS97

Thanks for stopping by today!  Comments are always welcome and appreciated – I do read each one!

Supplies:
Stamps: All Squared Up (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Regal Rose (SU)
Other: Medium Balloons die (Sizzix); Cotton Candy twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon)

Posted by PH in VA at 10:00 pm Avery Elle, Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Splitcoast challenges, Stampin' Up!

awesome little birdies

4 Responses »
Oct 152014

OK, I admit it – I’m kind of addicted to cute little birdie stamps lately!  These seemed perfect for the “Heart Song” Hope You Can Cling To challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com, which asks participants to create a card using music, birds, and/or hearts along with words of encouragement.  I’ve turned the current CAS(E) this Sketch! layout on its side to create a landscape scene with the die-cut grass.  The color variations in the green and yellow designer papers are subtle, but the papers still let this card qualify as a just-before-time-expires entry for the current Lawnscaping challenge. The birds were stamped onto both the card base and the yellow paper. I colored in the beaks with a marker before fussy cutting the birds and attaching them to the card base. (I wasn’t about to attempt cutting around their tiny little legs!)

CTS96

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ll consider joining in the fun of Hope You Can Cling To and using your cards to brighten the day of cancer patients.

Supplies:
Stamps: Feathered Friends for Simon Says Stamp, So Much To Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Soft Sky (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Oh Baby! Boy collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Landscape Trio dies (Mama Elephant); marker (Copic)

Posted by PH in VA at 10:00 pm Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Lawn Fawn, Lawnscaping challenges, Mama Elephant, Splitcoast challenges

cherub in the clouds

2 Responses »
Oct 082014

Today’s card is a relatively quick one that I made up to include in the shipment I sent to Operation Write Home yesterday.  It’s based off of this week’s sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!; I’ve used the mirror image of the sketch because it worked better with the direction the cherub is facing.  I’ve used clouds in place of the chevrons on the sketch.  The little angel on his own cloud takes the place of the arrow element.  I used some scrap cardstock as shims underneath him, to raise him off off the background clouds a bit.  In the photo, you can see some of the shadow created by that.  The sentiment pretty well speaks for itself.  It’s a good one for OWH cards!

CTS95

Thanks for stopping by to take a closer look at my card!  🙂  All comments are read and greatly appreciated.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love From Above, In My Heart (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Clouds & Raindrops dies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

Posted by PH in VA at 5:00 pm Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Mama Elephant, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - September theme challenge

8 Responses »
Sep 202014

Hello!  Once again, it’s time for a new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  Asha, our hostess, has chosen an interesting theme for this week:  Nordic Christmas.  To borrow some of her words from the challenge description:  “It’s rustic, minimalistic, cool, cozy, calm and peaceful… the look: homespun, handmade.”  Check out the 52{C}CT site for more information and to see what the rest of the design team has made.

It took me a while to figure out what to make for this challenge.  My first attempt fell very very flat, so since I wasn’t very happy at all with that card, I went on to try it again.  The “homespun, handmade” part of the description called out to me, so I thought that maybe I should try a simple cross-stitch design.  Off to Google I went, and my search turned up quite a few patterns, including some pretty but simple snowflakes.  So I stitched up one of them on some 14-count Aida cloth.  I borrowed this week’s CAS(E) This Sketch! layout for my card, turning it on its side and tweaking the placement of the sentiment.  Although I had a hard time getting the stitched panel and its mat trimmed as precisely as I would have liked, I’m overall a lot more pleased with this card than with my first attempt.

52CCT 09-20-2014

What will you do with our theme?  Please show us by linking your own Christmas or wintry card at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, September 26.  We’d love to see your artwork!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up); Happy Everything, Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Real Red, Naturals White (SU)
Ink: Real Red (SU)
Other: embroidery floss (DMC); Aida cloth (Charles Craft)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Christmas Card Throwdown, Stampin' Up!

CAS - Colours and Sketches #90

5 Responses »
Sep 042014

Hello!  It’s time for a new color challenge at CAS – Colours and Sketches!  Louise is the challenge hostess this month, and she’s picked some rich, bold colors for us to work with.

In a kind of rare twist for me, I literally used only the challenge colors.  Normally I add a neutral but this time I just didn’t think it would look right to add one in.  The sentiment looks black, but trust me, I used my blackberry ink pad for it.  The layout for this card is from CAS(E) this Sketch!, but with a few small tweaks.

CASCAS90

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has done with these colors!  Then share your own card with us by linking it to the challenge post by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, September 10.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamp: Cake & Candles (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Tangelo Twist (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Blackberry Bliss (SU)
Other: Beautiful Bows die (My Favorite Things)

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 am Avery Elle, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Stampin' Up!

CAS - Colours and Sketches #86

6 Responses »
Aug 072014

Well hi there!  Thursdays this month will be especially fun for me because I’m the August challenge hostess at CAS – Colours and Sketches!  I hope our challenge participants will enjoy the color and sketch ideas I’ve come up with.

We’re starting the month off with a color challenge.  When I was thinking up challenge ideas several weeks ago, I must have had the summer patriotic holidays in the back of my mind because this challenge is a slightly different take on the traditional red, white and blue.  Instead, we’re using a deep cherry red, ivory (or cream), and navy blue.  I went browsing online for layout ideas and decided to try out the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge.  The ladies there are combining their challenge with a new-to-me challenge blog, Tag You’re It!  So today’s card works for three challenges.  Woo-hoo!

CASCAS86

The navy star print designer paper and the navy star eyelet are both some pretty old stuff that I’ve had for years. The image is stamped in deep red ink, and I used a navy blue marker to color in the stars and the letters.  The tag ended up being a little bigger than I would have liked, but I couldn’t really do much else to accommodate this fun sentiment stamp.  This card is a little less “simple” than most of my CAS cards, but I think it still can be considered CAS.

(Sorry that graphic is SO HUGE!  I just got upgraded to a new version of WordPress and haven’t yet figured out how to resize images like I used to in the old version. 🙁 )

So – if you need further inspiration for the CAS – Colours and Sketches challenge, go see what the rest of the design team has made!  Then create your own clean and simple card using this week’s colors, and link it to the challenge blog by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, August 13.  We’d love to see what you can do!

Supplies:
Stamps: Cake & Candles (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Circles ‘n Stars Pretty Paper Pack (Creative Memories)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Other: marker (Copic); Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Navy grosgrain ribbon (SU); Airmail twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon); star eyelet (source unknown)

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 am Avery Elle, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

CAS - Colours and Sketches #83

4 Responses »
Jul 172014

Hello!  It’s been a pretty quiet week around here, but today it’s time for a new challenge at CAS – Colours and Sketches.  This week Jacqueline, our challenge hostess, has come up with a color scheme using some deep, rich colors.

I decided to go floral with the colors, using the two shades of purple for flowers and the green for leaves.  Yes, that very dark color is actually purple, although it tends to show up a lot like black.  It’s really hard to tell in the photograph, but the background is textured cardstock.  I stamped the flowers and leaves on smooth cardstock, fussy cut them, and then adhered them to the background.  The sentiment panel is also smooth cardstock, and it’s attached with dimensional adhesive so it sort of “floats” over the flowers.  Opposing rounded corners add a little extra interest to the card.  The layout is from the CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge that ends today, and the inspiration for the sentiment comes from the current AEIHeartU challenge.

Challenge 11

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has done with these colors!  Then share your own card with us by linking it to the challenge post by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, July 23.  We’d love to have you join us!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, Very Vanilla textured (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum (SU)
Other: dimensionals (SU); corner rounder punch (EK Success)

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 am AEIHeartU challenges, Avery Elle, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Stampin' Up!

Cards in Envy - Stars and Stripes

4 Responses »
Jul 072014

Hello, and welcome!  Today marks the beginning of a new challenge at Cards in Envy.  For the next two weeks, we’re going to be seeing stars and stripes.  Cards for this challenge should be A2 sized (4.25″ x 5.5″) and be thin enough to be mailed at the standard postage rate – and have both stars and stripes on them.

I decided to combine my stripes with my stars by die-cutting stars from striped designer paper.  I wanted to add another birthday card with a masculine feel to the box I’m filling for Operation Write Home, so that determined my color scheme and the sentiment I chose.  I used the sketch from the current CAS(E) This Sketch! challenge for the design of the card.

 

 

So now it’s your turn! Check out the Cards in Envy site for all the challenge details and to see what the rest of the design team has made. Then share your starry, stripey creation(s) with us by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, July 20. We’d love to have you play along with us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bannerific, Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: star die (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps); dimensionals (SU)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Basic Grey, Cards, Cards in Envy, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

Cards in Envy - Winged Things

2 Responses »
May 192014

Hello!  It’s the third Monday of the month, which means it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy!  For the next two weeks, we will be focusing on a theme of “Winged Things”.  Show us your A2 size cards that feature something with wings – birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, fairies or other winged mythical creatures, even airplanes!  So long as it has wings, it counts!  Remember to keep your cards less than 1/4″ thick – after all, the “in envy” part of our challenge name means that the cards should fit in an envelope and be mailable at the standard first class postage rate.

I decided to use butterflies for my winged things.  I kept my card really clean and simple, following the current layout from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I chose some (kind of old) designer paper as the background for my butterflies, and luckily had enough of this coordinating long-retired Stampin’ Up cardstock color to use for the butterflies and the card base.  Yay for using up some older products, right?!  😉  For the largest butterfly, I glued the middle down to the designer paper, and gently folded up the wings before attaching them with dimensional adhesive.  This gives the card more visual interest.  I also dressed up the butterfly by adding some pearls for the body.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Go see what kinds of winged things the rest of the Cards in Envy design team used.  Then create a card of your own and link it to the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, June 1.  We’d love to see what you make!

Supplies:
Stamps: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Mauve Mist, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up); “Apple Blossoms” designer paper from LilyKate collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, dimensionals (SU); lemon half pearls (KaiserCraft)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Basic Grey, Cards, Cards in Envy, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Stampin' Up!

CAS - Colours and Sketches #74

3 Responses »
May 152014

Greetings!  It’s time for another color challenge at CAS – Colours and Sketches.  I’ve combined the colors with the most recent CAS(E) this Sketch layout to create a kind of bold, graphic gender-neutral card suitable for Operation Write Home.  Well, actually I used the mirror image of the sketch, because it worked better that way with the sentiment.

If you cut the tails of banners by hand like I do, here’s a tip for getting matted layers even.  Before cutting them, I put the layers together with repositionable adhesive, lining up the bottoms of the pieces.  I cut all the layers together at once, so they are all cut at the same angle.  Then the layers can be separated and staggered so the matting can show, and rejoined with permanent adhesive.  (I hope that makes sense!)  However, after using that process on this card, I personally wouldn’t try this with more than three layers like I’ve used here, because of the thickness of all the layers.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has done with these colors!  Then share your own card with us by linking it to the challenge post by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, May 21.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Fill in the Blank (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Midnight Muse, Naturals White, Primrose Petals (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals (SU)
Other: Icon Fill in the Blank die (AE)

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 am Avery Elle, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

Cards in Envy - Think Green

3 Responses »
Mar 032014

Good morning!  It’s the first Monday of March, so that means it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy.  This fortnight we’re encouraging our challenge participants to get in a springtime mood and Think Green!  Cards for this challenge should be A2 sized, be less than 1/4″ thick, and use green as the dominant color.

I started out making a monochromatic card, using several different green patterned papers… and wasn’t very happy with it.  So I tried again, using the patterned papers differently… and hated that card even more than the first one.  And I didn’t want to make a Christmas card – that’s what the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenges are for! 😉  So I pulled out some patterned paper that’s mostly green but has a few other colors.  This scrap of apple print paper was just the right size to fit into the layout for the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge.  The red apple at the bottom of the card was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock, colored with Copics, and fussy cut.  I also stamped the apple on the green front panel for the card.  That way when I cut it from the white, I could omit the leaf and stem because trying to cut around them would have been too fussy for me!  The red colored apple was simply adhered over the one stamped on the green panel.

That’s it for today!  I know it isn’t easy to think spring and green when you’re still having snowy, icy weather in your area, but maybe if we all pull together in our thinking, Spring will finally arrive.  Link your Think Green cards to the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, March 16.  We hope you’ll join in the fun and creativity!

Supplies:
Stamps: My Silly Valentine (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah); Autumn Mix digital paper (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: markers (Copic)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, Cards in Envy, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Lawn Fawn, Lizzie Anne Designs, Stampin' Up!

Cards in Envy - Love is in the Air (a/k/a dynamic little lovebirds)

6 Responses »
Feb 032014

Good morning!  Since it’s the first Monday of the month, it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy!  Our challenge should put you in a Valentine mood because the theme for the next two weeks is “Love is in the Air.”

I’ve taken the theme pretty literally with the stamps that I chose. The images and sentiment are from three different Lawn Fawn sets, but they all work very nicely with each other.  The layout is from CAS(E) this Sketch (but I’ve turned it on its side), and I’ve used the colors for this week’s Dynamic Duos challenge.  I’ll be including the card in the next shipment I send to Operation Write Home.

So now it’s your turn! Check out the Cards in Envy site for all the challenge details and to see what the rest of the design team has made. Then share your creation(s) with us by 7:00 p.m. eastern time Sunday, February 16. We’d love to have you play along with us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bannerific, My Silly Valentine, You’ve Got Mail (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Real Red Core’dinations, Island Indigo, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, Cards in Envy, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Dynamic Duos, Lawn Fawn, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

dynamic December beach

3 Responses »
Dec 182013

If you’re like me, you’ve been seeing a lot of Christmasy and wintry creations online lately, or even still finishing up some of those projects yourself!  Today I felt the need for a little visual break from it.  I figured if people do “Christmas in July”, why not do something summery in December?

The current CAS(E) this Sketch and Dynamic Duos challenges easily lent themselves to my way of thinking.  Since I had the supplies out, I went ahead and made two very similar cards.  The first one follows the sketch challenge more closely than the second one. The designer paper is some old stuff I bought back when I did more scrapbooking than cardmaking – I would guess that it’s close to 10 years old. Yes, really. One of the sand dollars on each card is popped up with dimensional adhesive.

 

 

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, maybe you could even call this post a mini vacation for the eyes.  😉

I’m going to be sending both of these cards off to Operation Write Home.  Although I suppose these cards really could be gender neutral, I’m going to link them to the December OWH/Our Daily Bread Designs challenge for masculine cards.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stipple Shells (Stampin’ Up); Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Kraft, Naturals White, Naturals Ivory (SU); designer paper (Creative Memories)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: dimensionals (SU)

Posted by PH in VA at 10:00 pm Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Dynamic Duos, Operation Write Home, Stampin' Up!

dynamic triple challenges

8 Responses »
Dec 112013

Here’s a quick card I put together, combining the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! with the colors from Dynamic Duos and the theme from the OWH Stars & Stamps Midweek Throwdown.  This is almost a one-layer card.  The sentiment is stamped directly on the card base, but the floral stamping is on a separate panel. The lighter shades of ink were created by stamping off onto a scrap piece of paper. I added a bit of sponging around the edge of the triangular panel to help set it off visually from the card base.

This card will be sent to Operation Write Home.  Hopefully one of our military heroes stationed overseas will enjoy sending it home to someone he or she loves.

Thanks for stopping by today!  As always, comments are welcome and appreciated!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wild Rose, Three Little Words (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Primrose Petals, Gumball Green (SU)
Other: sponge

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 pm Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Dynamic Duos, Operation Write Home, OWH Midweek/Midmonth Throwdown
Older Entries Newer Entries
© 2019 Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha