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52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October theme challenge

Oct 152016

Hello! This week is theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and this time we have a theme that I think will be fun for a lot of people: Christmas Critters. Any type of animal critter you’d like to use will be fine, so long as it ties in with the Christmas season.

I turned to one of my stamp sets that features animals that live in cold climates, and chose one of the penguin stamps from it. My Santa hat stamp from another set fits this penguin pretty well. I stamped both the penguin and the hat on scrap cardstock, colored them, and fussy cut them. It’s not easy to see in the photo, but I added some Wink of Stella to the white trim on the hat. In real life, it’s pretty shimmery. Then I had to figure out a layout and a color scheme for my card. The current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches looked like a good one. I had a banner with a heat-embossed sentiment left over from another project, and it fit perfectly with the sketch. A variety of designer papers makes up the background for my penguin. I don’t often use black for card bases, but it was the half-sheet of cardstock left over from the card I shared yesterday, and it tied in with the penguin. And now I have another card to add to the ones I’ll be sending to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

What kind of critter(s) will you choose for your card? Be sure to share it at the 52CCT site before the challenge ends at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, October 21. Check out what the rest of the design team has made, too! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow, Hats Off to You, Happy Everything (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); scraps from Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); gold (ColorBox)
Other: markers (Copic); Wink of Stella pen (Zig); detail gold embossing powder (SU)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October color challenge

4 Responses »

Oct 082016

Hello! It’s color challenge week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and we have a lovely trio of soft colors this time – pale blue, pale green, and light grey. It’s a nice change from the traditional bold red and green.

I’ve combined the color challenge with this week’s sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. I added a couple of mats to the focal panel, staggering the sizes instead of making all the borders the same width. I wanted the tree to have a little visual lift from the background, so I stamped it onto a scrap of vanilla cardstock, fussy cut it, and glued it to the focal panel, rather than stamping it directly onto the panel. I added some enamel dots as ornaments to further incorporate the soft blue color (although it has a hint of green to it, I’m considering it my blue). A shiny silver star brad tops the tree. Addicted to Stamps and More has a “clean and simple” challenge this week, so I’m going to throw this card into the ring over there, too.

Thanks for stopping by today! Now it’s your turn to show us what you can make with these colors. If you need more inspiration first, go visit the 52CCT site and see what the rest of the design team has created. Be sure to link your card at the 52CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, October 14. We look forward to having you join us!

All supplies except the star brad are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamps: Season of Joy, More Merry Messages
Cardstock: Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Smoky Slate
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate
Other: Subtles candy dots; star brad (The Paper Studio)

CAS Colours & Sketches #194

6 Responses »

Oct 062016

Hello! It’s time for another month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches! We have some bold, bright colors for our challenge this week.

I really didn’t want to use the turquoise and the pink with the green to create a floral scene; that seemed a little too typical. But I wasn’t sure how to merge the colors into a more graphic design. My eyes caught a stamp set with a number of bird images and I thought that would work – plus, it fits the current theme over at Shopping Our Stash. I’ve used the layout from this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I debated whether or not to use a background stamp on the pink card base and I finally decided against it, because I didn’t want to take away from the CAS-ness of the card.

As always, although Stampin’ Up color names are used to describe the colors, you do not need to use SU products to create your card for the challenge. Just use whatever product you have that is closest. For all the details of this challenge, please check out the blog at CAS Colours & Sketches. I hope you’ll join us! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: For the Birds (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Glorious Green (SU); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Hampton Arts); stitched rectangle die (Lawn Fawn)

CAS Colours & Sketches #191

6 Responses »

Sep 152016

Hello! It’s the third Thursday of the month, which means it’s color challenge time again at CAS Colours & Sketches.

The colors made me think of nature. For the focal panel of my card, I made a watercolor wash with Bermuda Bay ink. When it was dry, I stamped a wildflower image on it with a light color of ink. Then I used watercolors to paint over the image. I added in a touch of shimmery paint on a few of the flowers. Then I die cut the circle and the sentiment. The two vertical strips were stamped with subtle prints to give them a little extra visual texture. The focal panel is popped up over them with dimensional adhesive. The layout for this card comes from this week’s challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. I know that Send a Smile 4 Kids often needs cards for the teenagers they aim to serve, and I think this card will be suitable for that purpose.

Our curious furball wanted to know what was going on when I was photographing the card…

Now it’s your turn! Go see what the rest of the design team has done with these colors. Then show us what you can create with them! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, September 21 to link your card at the CC&S challenge site. Thanks for stopping by today!

All supplies are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: In the Meadow, Sanded, Linen
Cardstock: Delightful Dijon, Cucumber Crush, Naturals Ivory; The Langton Prestige Extra Smooth Hot Press watercolor paper (Daler-Rowney)
Ink: Crumb Cake
Other: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints (Kuretake); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); Olivia alphabet die (ProvoCraft); Bermuda Bay reinker, dimensionals

CAS Colours & Sketches #185

7 Responses »

Aug 042016

Greetings! It’s time for another color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. I’ve combined the colors with the most recent Freshly Made Sketches layout. I dug out one of my older Stampin’ Up stamp sets and stamped the floral vine image in a kraft-colored ink. I colored in the leaves using a Fantastix tool that I’d tapped to the ink pad. I brushed a little extra of the kraft ink around the image with a loose brush, aiming for a light splattery effect, but unfortunately in the photo it just makes the card look dirty. Sigh. I don’t have any Dapper Denim cardstock or ink yet, so I added some ready-made flowers in colors close to the three challenge colors to embellish the image, topping the flowers off with some tiny self-adhesive pearls. The sentiment banner is raised up from the card base with dimensional adhesive.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team and our August guest designer have done with these colors! Then share your own card with us by linking it to the challenge post by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, August 10. We’d love to have you join us! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Artfully Asian (Stampin’ Up); Everyday Messages (Stampendous)
Cardstock: Night of Navy (SU); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake (SU)
Other: dimensionals (SU); paper flowers, pearls (Recollections)

Cards in Envy - Stripes

3 Responses »

Jul 042016

Hello! Here in the United States, it’s Independence Day, and at Cards in Envy we’re tieing into the patriotic mood with a theme of Stripes. For this challenge, create a card featuring stripes of some sort. It doesn’t have to be a patriotic card; it can be for any occasion. The stripes can be stamped, die-cut, stenciled, or designer paper – whatever you can imagine, so long as it’s striped, it’ll work for the challenge. Remember too that your card needs to be flat enough to fit into an envelope and be mailed at the regular first class postage rate.

I’ve gone with a birthday card for my card for the challenge. After all, Independence Day is regarded as America’s birthday. I gave my card a more neutral color scheme, though. I’ll be donating this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids, so I thought it was best to make it suitable to give to any person of any age. I used the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge for layout inspiration, but rotated the sketch 180 degrees.

We hope you’ll have fun with this challenge and join in the fun and creativity! Link your card at the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, July 17. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Watercolor Wonder designer series papers (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Basic Gray (SU)
Other: Party Balloons dies (LF)

Cards in Envy - It's a Great Day...

5 Responses »

Jun 202016

It’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy! I have to admit that the full title of the challenge, “It’s a Great Day for a White Wedding”, has had me hearing Billy Idol in my head for the last several days. (I know the actual lyrics say “nice day”, but close enough.) Although the challenge title references “wedding”, we’re also accepting anniversary cards as part of the challenge. Just make sure that your celebratory card is flat enough to fit in an envelope so that it could be mailed at the standard first-class postage rate.

I suppose my card really could go either way – wedding or anniversary. I haven’t put any sort of sentiment inside of it yet. It was really quick and easy to make. I started by coloring a scrap of white cardstock with a metallic pink Gelato and blending the color with a paintbrush dipped in a mix of water and bright pink reinker. When it was dry, I die cut a heart from it. I embossed a panel of white cardstock, stamped my “congratulations” sentiment on a scrap of pink cardstock, and attached the pink to the bottom of the embossed white panel. I attached the panel to a white card base, using scrap cardstock shims behind the panel for a little bit of dimension, and adhered the die cut heart in place. The layout comes from the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. I’m also entering this card into this week’s challenge at The Paper Players. It’s their 300th challenge – WOW! Congrats to them for such a successful challenge blog!

The Cards in Envy team has come up with some other great ideas, so be sure to check them out! We hope you’ll share your own wedding or anniversary card with us before the challenge closes. You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, July 3, 2016 to link your card at the challenge post. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Melon Mambo (SU)
Other: Gelato (Faber Castell); Melon Mambo reinker, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder (SU); heart die (Lawn Fawn)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - May theme challenge

5 Responses »

May 212016

Hello! It’s theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and this time we’re looking for cards with little Christmas critters. So long as your card features at least one small creature, it’ll meet the challenge theme.

I decided to use one of my Lawn Fawn stamps that doesn’t get a whole lot of inky love. I do think it’s cute, but it’s a bit of a pain to paper piece and I wasn’t in a mood for coloring. But I went ahead and pieced my scene from various designer papers and cardstock. For the bunny, I worked with a scrap of caramel brown cardstock to loosen the fibers in it, and then gently pulled the front and back apart into two pieces, to achieve a bit of a fuzzy texture. The card base is textured cardstock, although I’m not sure the texture shows in the photo. The layout for this card is this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge, squashed into a landscape-oriented rectangle.

What kind of Christmas critter will you use on your card – animal, elf, child? There are so many possibilities! Check out the design team’s makes if you need further inspiration. Once you’ve created your own card, link it to the 52CCT website by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, May 27. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Bunny, Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel textured, Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky Prints designer paper (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Pyrus and Gypsy 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - April Pick a Previous Challenge

6 Responses »

Apr 302016

Hello there! It’s the fifth Saturday of the month, which means that at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, we get into the creative spirit by giving some of our previous challenges another go. As challenge hostess for April, I’ve chosen to revisit our previous theme challenges.

I decided to go with the theme from June 2014, Rudolph or reindeer. I stamped the reindeer onto scraps of cardstock, fussy cut him out, and reassembled him onto the designer paper I chose for the background of my scene. I added a red rhinestone to the reindeer’s nose to turn him into Rudolph. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward card, so without further chitter chatter, here it is:

I’ve used the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge for the design of my card. I’m also entering this into the current Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge, to create a card with an animal on it for a child.

Which previous 52CCT theme will you choose for your card? Check them all out at the Themes tab on the challenge site. Then share your card with us on the challenge post. You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, May 6 to link your card. We’d love to have you join us! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Fa La La petite paper pack (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Real Red (SU)
Other: red rhinestone (KaiserCraft)

CAS Colours & Sketches #170

13 Responses »

Apr 212016

Well hi there! It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for a new challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. This time we have some nature-inspired colors for you.

I’ve decided to combine the color challenge with a few other challenges. The Paper Players challenge is to use at least one butterfly on a clean and simple card. At Less is More, the challenge is to use three stamps; my three are the butterfly, the wordy sentiment, and the “happy birthday”. Since I didn’t want the ends of the chocolate brown ribbon to show, I’ve attached the turquoise card front to a blush pink card base. The butterfly was stamped onto a scrap of white cardstock, colored, and fussy cut. The left side is attached directly to the card front, but the right side is adhered with dimensional adhesive to add a little visual interest to the card.

Be sure to see what the rest of the CC&S design team has done with these colors! Then create your own card and share it with us at the CC&S blog. You have until 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, April 27 to enter the challenge. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Flutter By (Lawn Fawn); Birthday Greetings (Gina K. Designs)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (GKD)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, dimensionals (SU); markers (Copic)

Cards in Envy - Just Purple!

5 Responses »

Mar 212016

Well hello! It’s time for another fun challenge at Cards in Envy. For the next two weeks, we have a spring-inspired color scheme of “Just Purple”. Cards made for this challenge should use purple as the dominant color, and have no lumpy, bumpy embellishments.

I’ve used a number of retired Stampin’ Up products for my card. The purple colors I chose have been out of the regular product line for several years, but I prefer their lighter shades to the current darker purples offered. The floral stamp set is also an “oldie but goodie”. The layout for my card is the current sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. I’ve moved the sentiment, but otherwise kept the sketch as it’s drawn.

We hope you’ll have fun with this challenge and share your purple card with us at Cards in Envy! Link your card to our challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, April 3. Happy crafting!

All supplies except the scalloped die are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamps: Wild Rose, Delightful Dozen
Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Whisper White
Ink: Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Mellow Moss
Other: Stitched Scalloped Borders die (Lawn Fawn)

CAS Colours & Sketches #159

10 Responses »

Feb 042016

Hello there! I hope February has gotten off to a good start for you. A new month means a new hostess for our challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches! Stef has some fun ideas planned for us, so I hope you’ll consider playing along with us and showing us your CAS skills.

The first Thursday of the month means its color challenge time. I have to confess that I struggled for a while with this one. The pinks didn’t bother me, but the orange combined with them threw me for a bit of a loop. After a few unsuccessful attempts playing with the inks in these colors, I decided to keep it simpler and just go with good old fashioned stamping. I’m going to need to make several birthday cards this month, so that’s how I chose the theme of my card. I stamped the presents in each of the challenge colors. Actually, it’s just one present stamp, but I “shortened” it by not inking it all the way to the bottom for the orange and the darker pink present. The sentiment is stamped with the darker pink ink, the additional banner is made from a scrap of orange cardstock, and the card base is the lighter pink color. The layout for my card is from the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, but I’ve squashed it into a landscape-oriented rectangle.

All in all, I think the card came together all right. It’s not my most favorite card I’ve ever made, but it’s certainly not the worst, either.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CAS Colours & Sketches design team did with these colors. Then show us what you can make with them! You can link your creation to the challenge blog until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, February 10. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Whimsy (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo (SU)
Other: Dimensional Banner die (My Favorite Things)

sketchy awesome puppy

3 Responses »

Nov 302015

Hello! Today’s post is just a quick one to share a card made for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge that will be closing this afternoon. I’m trying to get a few more cards made for the box I want to mail to Send a Smile 4 Kids this week, and this will be included in it. I felt like most of the cards I’ve made so far have been either feminine or gender-neutral looking, so I purposely chose colors that looked especially suitable for a little boy. The large star was die cut from shiny silver cardstock. The star-shaped sequins echo the silver, blue, and green used on the card. The puppy was stamped, colored, fussy cut, and attached to the star with a couple scraps of cardstock behind him to give him a little more visual separation from the background.

Here’s a second photo that really shows off the shine of the silver cardstock:

And here is the challenge graphic:

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

Supplies:
Stamps: Skater Kids (Mama Elephant for Simon Says Stamp)
Cardstock: Gable Green, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White textured, Silver Foil (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Nesting Starburst die (QuicKutz); markers (Copic); sequins (Darice)

CAS Colours & Sketches #149

10 Responses »

Nov 052015

Happy Thursday! It’s time for a new month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches and we’re getting it started off with a color challenge. Our November hostess, Louise, has chosen some autumnal colors for us.

I have to admit it took me a while to figure out what I was going to do with these colors. I looked around online to see if any of the many sketch challenges would help inspire me. The one at Freshly Made Sketches looked like it could easily be kept clean and simple in style, so I decided to give it a try. Then I had a couple different ideas for what stamps to use. In the end, this puppy image won out. I figured since one of the challenge colors is called “Chocolate Chip”, that this could be a chocolate labrador. Heh heh. Rather than trying to color him, I stamped him onto some chocolaty brown designer paper and fussy cut him from that. I stamped his head a second time so I could cut that out and pop it up over the whole dog image with a shim of scrap cardstock, to give him some dimension. I pieced his dog bed together from cardstock in the remaining two challenge colors. I’m hoping this is enough paper piecing to make my card count for the current Less is More challenge. I played with my photo editing stuff the best I could to try to show the deep purple blackberry color correctly. I’m not sure how well the photo shows that the main panel of the card is textured cardstock, either. At any rate, I think the card will serve well for Send a Smile 4 Kids.

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 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 11. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Furry Friends (Avery Elle); A Birdie Told Me (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Blackberry Bliss, More Mustard, Autumn Vine designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); scrap from Pyrus 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October Pick a Previous Theme

6 Responses »

Oct 312015

Hello! Happy Halloween to all of my readers who celebrate it!

It may seem odd to be sharing a Christmas card on Halloween, but at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, we celebrate Christmas all year ’round! Because it’s a fifth Saturday of the month, this week we have a “Pick a Previous” challenge for you. April, our challenge hostess, is asking us to choose a previous 52CCT theme challenge for inspiration this time. You can find the previous themes in the “themes archive” tab at the 52CCT website.

I went back just a couple of months to the August 2015 theme, “For a Child.” I’m trying to build up a stash of cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids and will be sending my 52CCT cards to them. Today’s card with its punny sentiment is probably more suited for a tween or a teenager than a younger child. The layout is taken from this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge, but I’ve turned the sketch on its side because I didn’t want any of the little birdies to appear to be looking off the edge of the card. I stamped the tree branches on the polka dot designer paper. The birds were stamped on white cardstock, colored, and fussy cut before adhering them to the designer paper. I also stamped the bird with the earmuffs on the designer paper so I wouldn’t have to try to fussy cut around the earmuffs. (Considering the hat and the scarf on the other two birds, I do think the bird on the right is wearing earmuffs, not headphones.) I drew in the legs for the other two birds instead of cutting around them. I realize the grey isn’t the most cheery color for a child’s card, but at least it’s gender neutral. That color choice ended up as a happy accident from using dark brown ink to stamp the branches on the designer paper and progressed from there.

Addicted to Stamps and More is running their Holiday theme week, so I’m entering my card into their challenge, too.

Which theme will you pick? There are over 30 from which to choose, so have fun deciding! Then be sure to share your card with us at the 52CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 6. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Sparrows (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky Prints designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: Chocolate Chip marker (SU); markers (Copic)

Older Entries Newer Entries

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October theme challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October color challenge

CAS Colours & Sketches #194

CAS Colours & Sketches #191

CAS Colours & Sketches #185

Cards in Envy - Stripes

Cards in Envy - It's a Great Day...

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - May theme challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - April Pick a Previous Challenge

CAS Colours & Sketches #170

Cards in Envy - Just Purple!

CAS Colours & Sketches #159

sketchy awesome puppy

CAS Colours & Sketches #149

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October Pick a Previous Theme

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Really great links

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