Potentially Cursed for Color Hues

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues and this time the lovely Sheri chose this wonderful combination of colors.

Color Hues

I was quite tempted to create a floral with this duo of colors, but my love of Halloween took me in a "hauntingly" different direction, bwwwhhhaaa!

I had so much fun making this card.  Spellbinders recently came out with the new Color Block Rectangle dies, which I had to have after loving the arched version that came out earlier this year.  Anyway, while I was shopping, I found this cute Halloween cat and she had to come home to me along with the rectangle dies.

I knew the basic layout I wanted but messed around with the background and finally decided to use a panel of C&9 Avacado cardstock and darken it by ink blending SSS Artichoke ink and Black Soot Distress ink over the entire thing, keeping it lighter in the middle.

The cat was easy to assemble, although the eyes were a bit tricky.  If you don't get them placed correctly, the eyes can appear crossed or wandering in opposite directions lol! Before adding our witchy cat to the panel, I stamped it with a spider web from another set.  Once I had her in place, the two die cut bats were added, along with the sentiment, which makes me giggle every time I see it!  To me the sentiment looks a bit crooked, but I checked it three times with my T-square ruler and the word are straight.  I may still fiddle around with it.

After assembling the card, I decided to add one last thing.  Using my white gel pen, I gave her some magic sparkles around her head.  

What are you inspired to create with these colors?  For more ideas, please head over to the challenge blog where my amazing teammates and our wonderful guest designer Amanda have some fabulous cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Tuesday, September 29th at 9 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Spellbinders/Simon Hurley Bewitched die set
• Spellbinders Trick or Snark Aug26 Clear Stamp and Die OTM
• Spellbinders Color Block Rectangle dies
• Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Stamp and Stencil Halloween Collection (spider web)
• Sixxix/Tim Holtz Big Frights dies (bats)

Live Salty for PP795

Hello friends!  It's Clean and Simple week over at the Paper Players.  The lovely LeAnne is hosting and has chosen a theme of going to the beach.

Paper Players

I'm also playing along with the current Time Out Challenge, with the theme of Water and with Just Us Girls and their Summer Fun Mood Board.

TOC #317

JUGS #832

I made a fun birthday card using some Waffle Flower Postage Collage products.  Take a look!

I started with the PC die that cuts a 4"x 5.25" panel with six different postage "stamp" sections and then used the beach stencil and some coordinating stamps to create the individual scenes.  The whole thing about Finding Nemo (mine! mine!) and the fun sentiment had me smiling the whole time.  

As you can see, I cut apart the stenciled sections then chose the three I liked the best to go with the sentiment and our beach theme.  The sentiment was stamped then fussy cut.  The background panel was cut with a postage rectangle die, ink blended with a light blue ink and attached the to the card base, then the stenciled sections and sentiment were added with a mix of glue and foam tape.  

Thanks for visiting!  Please be sure to pop over to the challenge blog to see the fabulous cards my talented teammates have created.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT Friday July 24th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Waffle Flower Postage Collage die
• WF Postage Collage Beach Day stencil
• WF Postage Collage Beach Days and Inquisitive Seagulls stamp sets
• SSS A2 Postage Rectangle die

Ravi-Best for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new CAS challenge at the Paper Players and this time the lovely Ann is hosting.  She is asking us to use food on our cards.  

Paper Players

I have a very fun card to share for this.  I think the older I become the more I like silly and playful cards.  Don't get me wrong, I will always love my florals, but I enjoy doing something totally different too. However, in the process of making this card, I did forget that this was a CAS challenge, so my card is a little borderline. ;-) 

Aren't they so fun?  I was giddy as I was die cutting all the parts from both the Pasta Friends and Ingredient Buddies die sets from Spellbinders. I ended up spending a couple hours die cutting from both sets, then worked on layouts. The raviolis are so darn cute plus I adore their little bows, the chef's hat and the fork, along with the ability to make one of them look like he was jumping up in the air!  I saw that on a cute card from Jennifer Kotas here.

The blue background was embossed with the SB Al dente 3D folder, trimmed down and added directly to the white card base. All the die cuts were arranged and adhered before adding the cute sentiment from the Stay Saucy sentiment set.  

So, what type of food will you have on your CAS card?  I look forward to seeing your card in the gallery but before you head off to your crafty spot, check out what my talented teammates have created here.  The challenge will remain open until Friday May 22nd at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Chompster Devours It!

Hello friends!  I have a fun card to share with you today using the new Just Add Cake card kit from Spellbinders.  I was so excited to get it because I knew all of the dies would work beautifully for many of the upcoming birthdays of friends and family members.  

Of course, I had to start with the cute little monster and because he's devouring a cupcake, I'm joining the current Sweet Treats challenge at Time Out Challenges.

TOC #310

And because I created a birthday card, I'm sharing with Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes challenge.

STB #323

This card was so fun to make!

I like the combination of orange and blue because I think it's gender neutral.  I created Chompster from two shades of orange cardstock and used the darker orange for the card base and his party hat.

The monster dies are super easy to put together and I was smiling the entire time because he's so cute!  The background arch panel was embossed with the Confetti Drop folder that comes with the kit.  

The card base was created using arch dies and one of the Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arch dies.  I think that's just the coolest look and I hope in the future they come out with rectangles with the same checkerboard design.  The sentiment is from the Just Add Cake stamp and die set in the kit.  

After creating the card base doing partial die cutting with the large arch die, the layers were added.  The only thing popped up with foam tape is the sentiment.  The final touches were to add the pompom on his hat and some Sparkle Texture Paste to the cupcake frosting.  I was hoping it would have a bit more opacity, but it still looks sparkly IRL.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  Have a great weekend!

Stef

Meowy Christmas for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  We have a fun new challenge over at the Paper Players this week!  The amazing Elizabeth is hosting our Clean and Simple challenge and is asking us to use critters on our cards.  

Paper Players

You can use any type of critter as long as you keep your card CAS - minimal layers and embellishments, simple and uncluttered with plenty of "white" space.

I'm continuing to work on my holiday card stash and I also used a stamp set that I've had for nearly, cough, cough...five years and have never used.  I figured it was high time to do so, and I'll be sharing over at Darnell's NBUS challenge.

Having had cats for at least half of my life, I couldn't love that sentiment more!  It makes me giggle, as does that very tense looking kitty (who knows what's in his cup???).  The cat was stamped then I did very simple coloring with my Copics before fussy cutting.  

The frame was die cut 3 times, twice from white and once from red metallic, then layered together on top of the Sea Glass card base.  The white center portion was stamped with the sentiment, layered inside the frame, then the cat was added with thin foam tape. 

I had cut three Christmas lights from another stamp in the set, colored them, then covered them with Glossy Accents. They, along with some torn up pine needles were added to the floor beneath the cat.  (sorry, they're a bit hard to make out; they're more visable IRL) Those darn cats will make such a mess of your holiday decorations if left unattended, as any cat owner will tell you! 

I hope you'll share your CAS critter card with us this week!  Before you head off to your crafty space, I encourage you to check out what the other DT members came up with (they're so talented!).  The challenge remains open until Friday, August 22nd at 3pm EDT.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp/Tim Holtz Stamptember 2020 stamp set (this set isn't available any longer but TH has other Snarky Cats stamps available at SSS or other retailers, if you have a warped sense of humor as I do lol!)
• Tim Hold Mini Holiday Greens die
• Waffle Flower Nesting Piercing Ticket Frames die
• Copics - R59, 37, 35, T4, 2, 0, C3, 1, 0, Y11, B00
• Olos - G1.7, 1.5, 1.4

I'm Killin' It for Color Hues

Hello friends! Okay, I try to refrain from saying this every month, but can you believe it's the first of a new month? And that we're halfway through 2025? It's true, and the good news is that we have a new challenge at Color Hues.  The fabulous Tracey is hosting this time and has chosen the great color duo of red and white.

Color Hues

 

And since I am using multiple new products I'm linking up to Darnell's NBUS Challenge here.

I am especially fond of Art Impressions stamps with humor and I picked up one earlier this year and thought it would work perfectly for this challenge.

Love this cranky old lady and I find the sentiment so funny!  I stamped her and the sentiment on a panel of die cut white, then set about coloring her with Copic markers.  I used a Copic Acrea paint marker in Snow White to add the polka dots on her hat and the stripes on her balloon.  Unlike most white gel pen, the paint marker doesn't absorb the ink colors underneath, so it's one of my new favorite tools!

I used a polka dot background stamp on the card base, then added the matted arch with our birthday gal and called it done.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  For oodles of inspiration from my highly talented teammates and our guest designer, Kim Miller, please head over to the challenge and check it out!  Hopefully you'll join us for Tracey's challenge, it will remain open until Monday, July 14th at 3pm EDT.

Stef

• Art Impressions Never Too Old Laugh Lines stamps
• Simon Says Stamp Swiss Dots Background stamp
• SSS Nested Domed Arches dies
• Copic Acrea Paint Marker in Snow White
• Copics - R59, 39, 37, 35, 21, C9, 7, 5, 3, 0, T2, 0, W3, 1, Black 100, E11, 21, 00

Girl With A Dream for Color Hues

Hello friends!  I'm back with a card for the new Color Hues challenge.  This time the lovely Cindy has chosen a pretty color combination of pink and blue.

Color Hues

To me, this is a rather dreamy color combination, and when pink is involved, I always want to color flowers.  But this time I had fun with a rather kooky little card.

I'd had my eyes on this stamp set from Stamping Bella for quite a while and so a few months ago I bought it along with a couple of the other Oddball stamps.  I soooo adore these!  Just the drawings crack me up but this one had a fabulous sentiment as well that had me smiling the entire time I was making the card.

I began by stamping her on a 3.75" x 5" panel of white, making sure I had room for my sentiment (which I cut apart in order to fit), then colored her with Copic and Olo markers.  

Next, I softly ink blended pink all around her, then used a stencil to add tone-on-tone detail.  The last step was to add the sentiment using foam squares.  I think this card will be sitting on my desk for a while because it tickles me so!

How do these colors speak to you?  As you can see, there are many directions you could go with them.  For more ideas and fabulous inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog and see what my talented teammates and Guest Designer Ishani have created! I hope you'll join us - the challenge remains open until 9 am EDT on Sunday 9/29.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Stamping Bella Oddball With A Coffee
• Simon Says Stamp Lattice Tile Stencil
• Copics - W3, 0, C9, 7, 5, 3, 1, B93, E11, 21, 00
• Olos - RV 1.7, 1.5, 1.3, 1.1, B0.6, 0.5, 0.3, 0.2

Merry Moose for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's Sunday and time for a new challenge at The Paper Players.  This week the lovely Ann is hosting our CAS week and this time it's back to nature!

The Paper Players

You are welcome to use any plant or animal on your card, just remember to keep it clean and simple.  For my card I used a fun moose!

Well, our silly moose found himself all tangled up in the decorations but not to worry, he's having fun!  The moose and the sentiment are both from the Merry Moose set from MFT and there are so many fun images.  I colored a number of the moose images with Copic markers but decided this guy was my favorite for this card  

In keeping this very simple, I used some older MFT pattern papers on the bottom of a panel, stamped the sentiment above, then die cut it with a deckled rectangle.  Two more layers of scrap cardstock were cut with the same rectangle die, added to the back of the main panel, then adhered to the card base. I did the same with the moose, layering up two additional die cuts.  If I'm making a CAS card, I like adding that bit of dimension for more interest.  Although you can't see it in the photos, I added Glossy Accents to the ornaments and lights in his antlers.

This is a great challenge because you can use any plant or animal, so lots of options for a CAS card.  We'd love to have you join us this week and if you drop by the challenge blog, you'll see lots of inspiration from my talented teammates!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• MFT Merry Moose stamps and dies
• Waffle Flower Deckled Frames
• MFT Cool Collab patterned paper
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Copics - E59, 57, 55, 53, R39, 37, 35, BG07, 45, 53, C9, 7, 3

Caroling Owls

Hello friends!  Just popping in with a fun card that I made for this week's challenges at Color Throwdown and Just Us Girls.  I was inspired by the pinks and greens in both challenges.

CTD #769

JUGs #706

I decided to use a darling stamp set from Stamping Bella to create a few Christmas cards. 

These happy owls just make me smile, like so many SB stamps.  I stamped them in an alcohol friendly ink, colored them with Copic markers using pinks, greens and a couple of grays (warm for the owls, cool for the shadows), then restamped them with black pigment ink.  The sentiment is from a Purple Onion holiday sentiment set.

I used two Spellbinders Essential Stylish Ovals to die cut the image and a green mat and added the die cut sentiment with thin foam squares. The embossed background was sprayed with Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray.  When that dried, it was adhered to the A2 card base, then the owls added with thin foam tape for a small bit of dimension. In my stash I had some small snowflakes die cut from silver glitter cardstock, so I added a few of those then finished things off with a white gel pen on the scarves and Star Dust Stickles on the brim and poms of the hats.  I love how this turned out!

I hope you've had a great weekend and if you're in the US, that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Stef

Stamps:  Stamping Bella Three Owls Caroling, Purple Onion Winter Wishes Sentiment Set

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, C&9 Evergreen, SSS Silver Glitter

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Dies:  Spellbinders Essential Stylish Ovals, Altenew Featured Sentiment die, Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti Fancy die

Embossing Folder, SSS Icy Snowflakes

Other:  Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray, White Sakura Gelly Roll pen, Star Dust Stickles

Copics:  W3, 1, 0, C3, 1, 0, R43, 32, 20, E08, G28, 09, 02

Apple-solutely Wonderful for Sunday Stamps

Hello crafty friends!  I'm back with a card for the new color challenge at Sunday Stamps.  This time the colors are definitely leaning towards fall.

Sunday Stamps

I'm also playing along with Inkspirational, where the current theme is CAS.

Inkspirational #299

After reviewing their definition of CAS (one main focal point, lots of open space, minimal layers and minimal embellishments), I thought my card worked well within those parameters.

A couple teammates and I were tossing around what colors were close to the color board and came up with More Mustard, Pale Papaya or light peach, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Gray, which worked for me!

I recently got this cute stamp set, which is a Stamptember collaboration set between Simon Says Stamp and Art Impressions.  If you're not familiar with Stamptember, all month long SSS offers exclusive collaboration stamps with many of the best craft companies and once the sets sell out, they're gone.  It's over now, since today is October 1st but just something to put on your calendar for next year if you're interested.  The other thing is that even if the collab sets sell out, the companies usually have something similar in their lines of stamps and dies. Art Impressions has a large line of fun AI ladies and gents, if you like this style.

Okay, enough about that!  This cute lady was colored up using Copic markers similar to the colors listed above.  I then used my gray marker to give her some ground to stand on, then used two shades of peachy ink to blend the edges of the background, leaving a little halo so I didn't get the ink where I didn't want it.

When the background was complete, I used a Wonky Stitched rectangle die to cut down the panel and mount it onto the white card base with foam tape.  The sentiment was white heat embossed on a scrap of gray cardstock, then I fussy cut it out and added it to the card with foam squares.  The final touch was adding a few highlights with a white gel pen.  I have a friend that absolutely loves puns, so this card will be heading her way soon!

I hope these colors inspire you to join us - the challenge remains open until 6pm EDT Friday, 10/13.  For more inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have plenty more inspiration for you!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

Stamps:  AI/SSS Apple Cider Set

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, SSS Slate Gray

Ink:  SSS Peachy and Grapefruit

Other:  SSS Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Copics:  T6, 4, 2, 0, W1, 0, R39, 37, 35, 20, Y15, 11, 00, YR17, 24, 23, 21, 18, 16, 14, 02, 01, 00, 000, E59, 42, 41, 21, 11, 09, 00

Seas the Day for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  Wow, didn't August just blow by?  I can't believe it's time for kids to be back in school and autumn just around the corner. At Sunday Stamps our new color challenge presents a palette that can be used for a summer card if you're not ready for fall!  Either way, I hope you're inspired to join us!

Sunday Stamps

I'm also joining the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where this week's theme is Anything Goes.

I fussed around trying to make a mountain scene with these colors, but then decided the coast was calling and ended up with this fun little vignette on my card.

This gull trying to retrieve a sea star cracked me up and the sentiment went so perfectly.  I stamped the gull and starfish on the peer and did some easy Copic coloring.  Next I used Simon Says Stamp Morning ink to blend in the sky and Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide ink for the ocean, then going over it with my B97 and 93 Copic markers to even out the color.  A white gel pen was the perfect tool to create small waves and ripples in the water.  

Next I used that same Morning ink, blending it all around the edges of a white panel, then cutting it down used a deckled edge die .  It was wrapped with some hemp twine and added to the white card base.  The main image was then popped up with more foam tape to finish off the card.  Pretty simple card but I think using dimension adds more interest.

So what are you inspired to make with these colors?  I hope to see your card in the gallery, but in the meantime, be sure to visit the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some fabulous cards.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Colorado Craft Company Seas The Day

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, SSS Morning, Uncharted Mariner DOX

Dies:  Altenew Mix and Match Frames

Other:  Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, Lawn Fawn Hemp Twine

Copics:  E37, 35, 33, 31, Y28, 26, 35, 32, Black100, C6, 4, 2, 0, B97, 93

Cheers My Deers for Christmas Craft Creations

 Hello and welcome!  It's time for our reminder post at Christmas Craft Creations and this month were celebrating the holidays with a bit of humor!

Christmas Craft Creations

It's also our 3rd birthday and there are prizes to be won by those who play along, so head over and check it out!

For my card, I went with a clever and fun stamp set from Art Impressions called Cheers My Deers.

These two gals are so funny in their antler hats, and from their faces, obviously they are humored by them as well!  Started by Copic coloring the images then using the matching die to cut them out.  The sentiment was stamped in black pigment ink then die cut with an Essential Oval die from Ellen Hutson.  The dies not only cut the shape, they also cut a frame, so I cut it a second time and added a frame that I'd colored with one of my RV markers.

Having decided to make this a mini-slimline card, I cut a panel of Tim Holtz Distress White Heavystock and ink blended Altenew's Dew Drop and Aqualicious inks on the panel.  Next the Winter Tree dies from MFT were used to cut three trees and were adhered to the panel.  The snowbank was die cut using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Border die, then added to the panel with thin foam tape, trimming off all the excess before adhering directly to the white card base.  The gal's images were die cut twice more from white cardstock, then layered together before adhering to the card front.  I then added "snow" by splattering Picket Fence Distress paint and when that dried, the sentiment was adhered with a bit of foam tape.

Since I was already making one card, I decided to make a second, using different colors for the apparel and creating a regular A2 card.  You'll have to let me know which you like better.

It would be wonderful if you would join us this month, adding to your Christmas card stash and possibly winning a prize as well!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the fabulous cards from both the launch and reminder teams and hopefully decide to play along!  The challenge is open until 11am MDT.

Cheers!

Stef