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CAS Colours & Sketches #360

Mar 032020

Hello! It’s time for a new month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches! Jeanne is our hostess this month and she has some fun challenge ideas in store for us!

As always, we start the month with a color challenge. I decided to use them for an Easter themed card. This card is so straightforward there isn’t much for me to say about it. I used colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits to color the image, and I offset the main panel onto the card base so more of the pale green color would show around the two edges. I think the difference in sizes between the image and sentiment qualify this card for the current Less is More challenge so I’ll be entering the card there.

How will you use these colors? Be sure to check out the CC&S blog to see what the rest of the design team and our March guest designer have made. Once you’ve made your own card, be sure to link it at the challenge post by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 9. We’d love to have you join us! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Egg-cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Pistachio Pudding (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol)

CAS Colours & Sketches #359

7 Responses »

Feb 252020

Hello there! After taking a little break last week, my creativity is back in the saddle again for this week’s challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. We have a sketch to follow this week.

I originally planned to make another Easter card that I could donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids, but none of my Easter stamps seemed to fit the sketch very well. As I was browsing through my stamps I rediscovered a set of fruit and vegetable stamps I hadn’t used in a long time. The beet seemed like it would work with the sketch, if I flipped the sketch mirror-image. So I decided to roll with that idea. For the circular element, I thought about using a different color, or even a patterned paper, but in the end I went a much more CAS route by piercing the circular shape on the card panel. Then I stamped the beet and the sentiment, and I colored the sentiment with colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits. I attached the panel to a card base that matches the colored pencil better in real life than the photo makes it look.

I’m going to enter this into the current AAA Cards challenge. I concede that the corner idea might be a bit of a stretch, but since the last time I used this stamp set was 2015 I think I’ve gotten the twist of using older supplies.

What will you do with this sketch? There are so many possibilities! Be sure to go see what the rest of the Design Team has made. I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us! Link your work to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 2. Thank you for stopping by today! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Supplies:
Stamps: Punny Fruits & Veggies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Berry Burst (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol); Paper Piercing Pack Essentials (SU); piercing tool

CAS Colours & Sketches #357

3 Responses »

Feb 112020

Hello there! It’s time for the first CAS Colours & Sketches sketch challenge for the month of February. Any shapes can be used in place of the hearts on the sketch.

I don’t need to make any more valentines this year, so I decided to make a birthday card that I can donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I kept the colors fairly neutral so the card could be used for either a boy or a girl. The card base has a very subtle linen texture, which shows up much better in person than in photos and gives the card a little extra visual interest. I used Copics to color the birdie, the bear, his hat, and his present; all those elements were fussy cut and glued into place on the card. I flipped the sketch mirror image because the bear looked better facing toward the inside of the card front rather than looking off the edge.

What will you create with this sketch? Share your work with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, February 17. Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too! Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Party Animals, Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Certainly Celery (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

CAS Colours & Sketches #343

1 Response »

Oct 152019

Hello there! It’s time for a new color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I decided to create a little scene on my card. For each color, I pressed the ink pad onto an acrylic block and spritzed the ink with water; then I painted a wash of color onto the cardstock (the red, bright blue, and grey were done on scraps; the pale blue was done on a card front). I stamped the balloons and the elephant onto their respective colors after the washes dried. When the pale blue was dry, I masked off a small area at the bottom of it and dabbed red and blue ink into the area to create a ground for the elephant. Then I fussy cut the elephant and balloons, positioned them into place so I knew where to draw in the balloon strings, and then glued everything to the card front. Finally I attached the card front to a pale blue card base. I opted not to put a sentiment on the card. I’ll be donating it to Send a Smile 4 Kids, and I figured without a sentiment, it could be used for a wider variety of occasions.

I kept the current AAA Cards challenge in the back of my head while I was figuring out the layout for my scene.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ll join us over at CAS Colours & Sketches with your own take on these colors! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, October 21 to link your card at the challenge website. Also, we’re looking to add some new members to our design team, so if this is something you’re interested in, be sure to add the letters “DT” to your name when you link your card, and play along in next week’s sketch challenge, too!

Supplies:
Stamps: Ellie, Storybook (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Pool Party (SU); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pacific Point, Pool Party, Real Red, Smoky Slate (Stampin’ Up)
Other: multiliner pen (Copic)

hi there, butterfly

2 Responses »

Jan 112019

I feel like I’ve been in a creative slump for quite a while, not creating as many cards as I used to. I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions per se, but I do want to get back into a cardmaking groove again in 2019. I miss playing along in some of the various challenges I’ve participated in in the past. So today’s post is an effort to get back into the swing of things.

The Paper Players challenge that is closing shortly is to use any sort of animal on a card. I’ve combined that with a recent sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers. I had the butterfly already colored and mounted to the red scalloped circle, left over from a long-ago cardmaking session, and I thought pairing it with the sketch would make a quick and easy start onto using up some of my “UFOs” (UnFinished Objects). Because of the way the butterfly is oriented, I thought it looked better to flip the sketch mirror-image. The narrow strips were cut from a scrap of cardstock. It’s definitely not one of the most amazing cards I’ve ever made, but it’s cute and perfectly suitable for Send a Smile 4 Kids.

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

Supplies:
Stamps: Somebuggy Loves You (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Crumb Cake, Real Red (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); big scalloped circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); dimensionals (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #300

4 Responses »

Nov 272018

Hello hello! At CAS Colours & Sketches, we’re celebrating our challenge blog’s sixth birthday this week with challenge #300! To thank our challenge participants for helping us to reach this milestone, we’re offering up a prize from Uniko to one lucky player in this week’s challenge. You won’t want to miss out on this event! All the details are at the challenge site.

I’m the challenge host at CC&S this month, and for this week, I’ve drawn up a sketch that incorporates our birthday celebration. It features six shapes stretched along one of the long sides of the card. Any shape can be used, and they can be different sizes, but they must all be the same shape – for instance, six hearts, six balloons, six squares, etc.

My original plan was to make a wintry card with six snowflakes, but after I noticed that a couple of the other design team members were using snowflakes on their cards, I opted to do something different. My cardstock folders with the colors from last week’s challenge were still on my desk, so I used scraps from them to create little rectangular gift packages with ribbons. I turned the sketch on its side so I could stack the boxes. I cut a little gift bow shape from another scrap to decorate the present on the top of the stack. Even though the colors suggested Christmas, I wanted another birthday card to add to my stockpile for Send a Smile 4 Kids – plus it ties into the CC&S birthday theme. The card would have looked a little too plain if I’d put the packages directly on the card base, so I adhered them to a panel of textured cardstock, which is attached with a couple of cardstock shims beneath it to give some dimension to the card.

We’d love to see what you can create with this week’s colors, and to have you join in celebrating with us! Share your card at the CC&S website by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, December 3. We hope you’ll continue to join in our challenges. Thank you to our fantastic sponsor for this week, Uniko!

Supplies:
Stamp: Birthday Greetings (Gina K. Designs)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Tranquil Tide, Mint Macaron (Stampin’ Up); Solar White, Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #299

5 Responses »

Nov 202018

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

The quickly approaching Christmas season was in the back of my mind last month, I think, when I chose the two shades of green with the rich, deep red for this challenge. Oddly enough, LOL, as the challenge date grew nearer, I was more and more inclined to not make a Christmas or seasonal card with them. I guess after using green and red for last week’s card, I wanted to show that today’s colors have enough versatility for something different. The green and red together made me recall a card I’d made about six years ago, so I decided to try to rework it to use this week’s challenge colors.

There are a number of similarities between today’s card and the older one, but there are a lot of differences, too. I’ve used the same stamps, plus a speech balloon stamp. I created a slightly larger scene with the little toad, using a grass die to “ground” him on a faux stitched circle, but I used the same hexagon die as a mat for the circle. I stamped the frog and the heart on cardstock and fussy cut them to make sure their coloring would match the background cardstock pieces. Today’s card uses the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge for the layout. I opted to give the long border elements of the sketch a faux stitched scalloped edge for a little extra visual interest against the plain white card base.

Now it’s your turn to create a clean and simple styled card using these colors, and share it with us at the CC&S site! If you don’t have these exact colors, just use whatever you have that closely resembles them. You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, November 26 to link your card. We hope you’ll join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters Ever After, A Birdie Told Me (Lawn Fawn); Unfrogetable (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Tranquil Tide, Mint Macaron, Cherry Cobbler (SU); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: hexagon Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); grassy border, stitched circle, and stitched scalloped border dies (Lawn Fawn)

CAS Colours & Sketches #296

3 Responses »

Oct 302018

Hello there! October has five Tuesdays, so that means it’s Timeless Tuesday double challenge week at CAS Colours & Sketches! Karen and I combined forces for creating this week’s challenge – she chose a previous CC&S sketch to use, and I picked some of Stampin’ Up’s retired colors to use with it. Although we use Stampin’ Up color names for reference, you may use any companies’ products to make your card, so long as you match the colors closely. You’re also welcome to turn the sketch on its side or flip it mirror-image.

By the time I got started working on my card, some of the other CC&S design team members had already added theirs to this week’s challenge post. I noticed they were trending toward a Christmas-y theme so I felt a pull to do something different. My first instinct was to create a birthday card with balloons in the challenge colors. While I was looking through my stamp sets, I rediscovered this cute elephant and thought I could have it holding the balloons. When I started working with the stamps I thought that the size of the images would make the long vertical panel of the card too long, so I decided the elephant would hold pennant banners instead. I wasn’t in a mood to color, so I stamped the images on cardstock and fussy cut them. To give the elephant a little texture, I put a piece of gray cardstock through my crimper several times in different directions so that it loosened the fibers, and then carefully pulled it apart to reveal the fuzziness inside. I stamped the elephant on each of the fuzzy sides of the cardstock so that I could have an “extra” head, which I layered with another piece of cardstock so that I could give the elephant some dimension. I used the grass for the ribbon and bow element of the sketch.

In the end, I think it’s a cute card that I can include in my next shipment to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has made. Then get your craft on and link your own clean and simple styled card to our challenge post! You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, November 5 to share your card with us. We’d love to see what you can do with our double challenge! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ellie (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green, Basic Gray (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: grass die (Lawn Fawn)

CAS Colours & Sketches #293

3 Responses »

Oct 092018

Hi! It’s sketch challenge time at CAS Colours & Sketches and this week we have one that gives lots of creative opportunity.

The “non-geometric shape” element of the sketch made me think for a while, pondering what I could use for that. Finally I narrowed it down to a few of my animal stamps that I hadn’t used for a long time. I have loads of designer papers and I wanted to use some for the rectangular element. I found this scrap that had a greyish color that would work for kangaroos, and so I decided to use that stamp and I built the color scheme of my card from there. I stamped the mama and baby kangaroo image on a scrap piece of white cardstock so I could color it and then fussy cut it. I stocked up on Soft Sky cardstock before it was retired (it’s one of my all-time favorite colors) so I used that for the card base and matted the scrap of designer paper with green. I used dimensional adhesive to attach the kangaroos to the card.

If I’d thought about it before I put the card all together, I would have also stamped a few balloons for the mama kangaroo to hold, to give the card more of a birthday vibe. Oh well. It’s still a good card for Send a Smile 4 Kids.

Check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team and our October guest designer have done with this sketch. We’d love to see your take on it! We hope you’ll make a card of your own and share it with us at the CC&S site by 6:00 p.m. Monday, October 15, 2018. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters Down Under (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Fall Flowers designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: dimensionals (SU); markers (Copic)

CAS Colours & Sketches #290

2 Responses »

Sep 182018

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

Although the colors this week strongly suggest autumn, I felt a more compelling urge to do something different. One set of stamps that I’ve had for a while has a lot of adjectives, so I decided to put together a sentiment using some of them, highlighting the descriptive words with the challenge colors. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white cardstock, trimmed a black panel to mat it, and adhered everything to a card base of linen textured white cardstock. Easy peasy and rather quick! My Fresh Fig ink is quite dark in color, but rest assured, that’s what I used for the word “fantastic” even though it almost looks black. I don’t have the Granny Apple Green ink or cardstock yet, so I’ve substituted an older In Color ink that I thought seemed close based on photos I’ve seen online.

Now it’s your turn to create a clean and simple styled card using these colors, and share it with us at the CC&S site! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, September 24 to link your card. We hope you’ll join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Incredible (Technique Tuesday); Simply Said You (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Solar White, Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah); Basic Black (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Fresh Fig (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #289

5 Responses »

Sep 112018

Hello there! We have a great little sketch for you this week at CAS Colours & Sketches and I’m looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants make with it.

I decided to combine my sketch with the color challenge currently going at Less is More and I’ve made another card to add to the stockpile that I’ll be sending to Send a Smile 4 Kids in a few weeks. For the circle element of the sketch, I made a stencil by cutting a circle from an index card. I attached the stencil to my card front with temporary adhesive and brushed blue ink into it. After I removed the stencil, I stamped the sentiment. I die cut several snowflakes from white cardstock. The largest one is layered for more dimension. I coated all three snowflakes with a generous dose of Wink of Stella to give them some shimmer. To bring out the black for the color challenge, I trimmed the edges of card panel a bit and attached the panel to a black card base. The card still looked a little plain to me after I put the snowflakes in place, so I added rhinestones for more sparkle.

There you have it! What will you make with this sketch? If you need extra inspiration, check out what the rest of the CC&S design team and our guest designer have made. Be sure to share your card with us at the CC&S site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, September 17. We’d love to have you join in the fun and creativity!

Supplies:
Stamp: Bows and Holly (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Marina Mist (SU)
Other: Stitched Snowflakes dies (LF); stencil brush (Claritystamp); Wink of Stella pen (Zig); rhinestones (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #288

3 Responses »

Sep 042018

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

I decided to create a little scene for my card, which isn’t always easy to do while keeping it clean and simple. I wanted a nighttime scene, so I started off by making a wash of navy blue on watercolor paper. When it was dry, I sponged some more navy ink on it to give it a little shading and depth. I stamped some buildings in black, adding a few shadowy ones for more depth. I ran this panel through my Big Kick with a scenic die that was supposed to cut stars around the top – but even though I ran it through twice, the stars didn’t cut all the way through. I guess the watercolor paper was a bit too thick for it. So I decided to go old school with a handheld star punch and cut some stars with that. To add more of a starry effect, I also splattered some shimmery white paint onto the top half of the panel. After I stamped, colored, and fussy cut my little super hero, I positioned him where I wanted him and then stamped the sentiment. Finally, I attached the panel to a golden yellow card base.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ll join us over at CAS Colours & Sketches with your own take on these colors! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, September 10 to link your card at the challenge website.

Supplies:
Stamps: Super Duo (Mama Elephant for Simon Says Stamp)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry (Stampin’ Up); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Night of Navy reinker (SU); Starburst cover die (Mama Elephant); Frost White shimmer paint (Tsukineko); star punch (Fiskars)

CAS Colours & Sketches #287

5 Responses »

Aug 282018

Hello there! It’s time for the last challenge of the month at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week we have a sketch challenge for you to try.

I decided to go with a cute kitty cat theme for my card. I’ll confess that I took the easy way out of coloring the images by stamping them onto designer paper and fussy cutting them. I did use a dark brown marker to fill in the trim on the cat’s bed. I chose two shades of blue cardstock for the card base and background, and the card came together pretty easily. To avoid cutting around the cat’s whiskers, I stamped the cat onto the background and glued the fussy-cut image over it.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ll check out what the rest of the design team has made, and then join us over at CAS Colours & Sketches with your own take on this sketch! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, September 3 to link your card at the challenge website.

Supplies:
Stamps: Furry Friends (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: marker (Copic)

CAS Colours & Sketches #285

5 Responses »

Aug 142018

Hi there! We have a fun sketch for you this week at CAS Colours & Sketches and I’m looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants create with it!

I guess I’m subconsciously wishing for winter weather because I decided to use snowflakes in place of the circles on the sketch. Besides, it’s time to start getting into holiday gear for Send a Smile 4 Kids. My snowflake dies are larger than the sketch elements, but I think the idea of the sketch is still conveyed. I cut the snowflakes from shimmery white cardstock, which is very pretty in person and very difficult to capture with the camera. Some iridescent rhinestones add some extra sparkle for a more festive touch. I turned the sketch on its side so the sentiment would better fit on the card. The card still looked a little plain, so I pulled out a corner rounder and punched the bottom corners of the card.

What will you do with this sketch? There are so many possibilities! I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us! Link your work to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, August 20. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Merry Messages (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Shimmery White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Smoky Slate (SU)
Other: Stitched Snowflake dies (LF); rhinestones (Recollections); corner rounder punch (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #283

6 Responses »

Jul 312018

Hello! It’s the last day of the month, and we’re squeezing in one more July challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. Since it’s the fifth Tuesday in July, we have a “Timeless Tuesday” double challenge – combining retired Stampin’ Up colors with one of our previous CC&S sketches.

I have to confess that because this was not one of my favorite sketches during its first go, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to using it again. After a lot of thought about how I could also incorporate the colors, I finally decided to use ice cream cones for the pennant shapes. Stamping the images and sentiment directly onto the main focal panel of the card helps keep it clean and simple in design. It seems like it’s been a long time since I used my Copics to color an image and I felt a little out of practice; I’m not so proud of this coloring job but I guess it’s not too awful.

Now it’s time for you to get your craft on and link your own card to our challenge post! You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, August 6 to share your card with us. We’d love to see what you can do with our double challenge!

Supplies:
Stamps: Here’s the Scoop, Chit Chat (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Older Entries

CAS Colours & Sketches #360

CAS Colours & Sketches #359

CAS Colours & Sketches #357

CAS Colours & Sketches #343

hi there, butterfly

CAS Colours & Sketches #300

CAS Colours & Sketches #299

CAS Colours & Sketches #296

CAS Colours & Sketches #293

CAS Colours & Sketches #290

CAS Colours & Sketches #289

CAS Colours & Sketches #288

CAS Colours & Sketches #287

CAS Colours & Sketches #285

CAS Colours & Sketches #283

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Really great links

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