random reflections

Addicted to CAS: Blessed/Blessing

I've got a couple of cards for the Addicted to CAS challenge: Blessed/Blessing.

I'm truly down to the wire getting this challenge posted although I made the cards days ago. There are two cards with very subtle differences in color and in embellishment.

The sentiment and the die cut letters are from Ink to Paper's "Season of Joy" set. The gorgeous snowflake is one from My Favorite Things set of dies, "Stylish Snowflakes," cut from some very glittery paper I picked up in Milwaukee awhile ago.

The second version is nearly the same, but a slightly different color of blue cardstock and a larger embellishment as well as blue metallic die cut letters.

I'm also linking this up with Simon Says Work It Wednesday where the challenge is "Ho, Ho, Holidays."

 

 

JOY

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the U.S. I hope it is a joyful holiday for you and your family! I have a joy-filled card to share today for the Addicted to CAS Challenge which is appropriately: 

As soon as I saw the challenge I knew just what stamp set would be perfect: "Season of Joy" by Ink to Paper.

I love this beautiful shade of red cardstock which I picked up at the Gina K shop in Wisconsin when we were visiting Sarah in October.  Everything on this card came from the same set with accompanying dies. The sentiment was embossed in gold, and the letters for JOY were die cut from gold paper that is backed with adhesive. 

The wreath was stamped with three shades of Pinkfresh Studio inks with details added from Polychromos colored pencils. The final touch was to add some tiny red pearls from A Muse that have been in my stash for years. I loved them so much I bought multiple packages when it appeared they would be discontinued. I still have plenty, even though I use them frequently.

We'll be off later this afternoon to Tracy's sister's for the holiday meal. I'm the pie lady, and have three offerings: pumpkin, apple caramel crunch, and a red pear galette. The last two are new recipes, and let's hope they meet with approval.

Cards for Challenges

I have two cards to share today for four challenges. The first is a birthday card I gave to a friend last week. It's being linked to Addicted to CAS where the challenge is "Birthday."

My friend's birthday isn't until next week, but because of the holiday, we celebrated at lunch last Friday. I chose a stamp from Pretty Pink Posh I haven't used often, "Autumn Wreath."

Because I embossed the wreath in gold before coloring it, I used my Tomboy markers to color the image. I hadn't used those in the longest time, and I was quite pleased with the amount of shading I could get. I'm so used to Copics, but have read repeatedly that embossing powder can ruin the tips of the markers. They're too expensive to take a chance. 

After coloring it, I stuck it in my MISTI to emboss the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Birthday Basics," and then die cut the panel with Simon Says "Stitched Rectangles."

Lastly, I adhered the panel to a card made from Papertrey Ink's Canyon Clay cardstock.

The next card is a Christmas card for three challenges. First is AAA Cards which calls for "One Image and Optional Shimmer." I have both.

The second challenge for this card is at CAS on Friday where the challenge is to use a frame.

And finally, the brand new challenge at Time Out: Celebrations, with an optional twist of making a one layer card. I'm not sure if the addition of the frame kills the one layer requirement, but it definitely fits the Celebration theme.

 

My card features the beautiful "Modern Poinsettia" from Altenew. I previously colored it with colored pencils, but this time created two cards using Copic markers. 

As before these were images I had stamped at Altenew's Meet and Greet in Syracuse in August. This time they were stamped on panels so I didn't have to worry about the Copics bleeding through to the back. After coloring the images I masked the poinsettia and splattered some metallic gold paint on the panel. It still needed something, and I remembered the Altenew "Fine Frames Cover Die." 

I die cut the frames from gold metallic paper which has an adhesive back which turned out to be pretty easy to get on the card. You can see the shimmer a bit better in this photo.

I've been busy tackling the Christmas cards, but still have a ways to go! 

CASology Appreciate: Take Two

I have another entry to the CASology challenge: Appreciate.

When I set out to create this card, I really didn't have anything in mind. I started with a Paper Source A4 card and set out to emboss the Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window die by My Favorite Things. I wasn't paying good attention and ended up die cutting the window instead of embossing it.

In the end, I like it a lot better so for once, the error was in my favor. The note is for a male friend so I put a layer of Simon Says Fog cardstock behind the window. I had already colored the sprig of leaves from Altenew's Weekend Doodles in shades of gray so tucked them into the corner of the window. The sentiment is from Simon Says "Tiny Words" embossed in white on black cardstock. When I bought that set of sentiments, I embossed all of them at once on black cardstock and trimmed them out. They're in a box along with sentiments from two other sets. It's easy to look through them and find an appropriate sentiment for a card.

It's my favorite style---CAS---and a design I will surely use again.

 

A One Layer Card

Truthfully, it's rare that I make a one layer card. In August, a friend and I attended a "Meet and Greet" hosted by the Altenew Stamp Company. They're based in Syracuse, NY so it was an easy trip to make from Rochester. Quite a few of the participants had drive a long ways. I didn't get any great photos of the event where we got to play with the September release ahead of time, and had a chance to meet quite a few of Altenew's design team as well as Jennifer McGuire who happened to be visiting.

I stamped quite a few panels that afternoon, and several cards and brought most of them home to color. Here's a card I posted earlier that was created at the same event. In this case I stamped on a panel and added it to a card later. I particularly liked one of their new Christmas stamps called "Modern Poinsettia" and stamped it numerous times. (I've since purchased the stamp, so you'll be seeing more of it.) One of those was on plain white card. I'm not sure what kind of card it is, or if it's Copic friendly. I also knew that if I colored it with Copics, it would bleed through to the back of the card front, so I pulled out my Polychromos pencils to work on it. I'm asking Santa for an online class using colored pencils for Christmas as I need a lot of practice with them. Nonetheless, I'm happy enough with this card to enter it in two challenges. First Less is More where the challenge is a one layer card with winter flora.

CAS on Friday's challenge is also for a one layer card:

The card itself is very simple: one stamped image and the sentiment, both from Altenew's "Modern Poinsettia.

I used three variations of pink and red pencils with some green for the centers and highlights as well as some purple highlights.

I did add a tiny dot of white gel pen to each of the berries as well as outlining the berries in a fine line pen. 

If you follow me on a regular basis, you'll be wondering why I'm all of a sudden posting so frequently. I had rather invasive oral surgery last Friday, and was told to "lay low" for a few days since it involved general anethesia. Now I'm feeling much better and have had more time since I'm not yet back to my usual volunteering or social schedule. I've been making some Christmas cards and have quite a few birthdays later this month. In addition, I just figured out that I've done nine photo walks that I never posted, and have some travel photos to share from our road trip in Washington and Oregon. The blog is likely to be busy for a few weeks!

AAA Cards & Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

When I saw the challenge at AAA Cards for Maximum White Space, I had an idea for a Christmas card.

Now, white space does not have to be white, and in this case it's navy blue. Photographing the card turned out to be a monumental challenge. It's so dark and dreary here that finding the right light was nearly impossible. 

I trimmed a piece of navy cardstock to 5 X 3 3/4 and embossed the star in Rose Gold from a set called "Totally Happy." Somehow (like the light) I can't figure out who the manufactures the set. The sentiment is from an older Simon Says Christmas set, "Ornaments."

I popped the panel up with a piece of fun foam before adding it to a navy card. Maximum white space equals Clean and Simple, for sure. Also quick--except for trying to get a photograph! 

I'm adding this to the huge gallery of cards at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

 

Time Out Challenge

I have a "just because" card for the current Time Out Challenge:

I made this card for my granddaughter so she would receive a cards when I sent a congratulatory card to her brother upon passing a karate test.

The white panel was embossed with Papertrey Ink's "Simple Strips" Impression plate. I cut it down so there would be a border of the Hawaiian Shores card on each side, and then die cut three small circles with a Spellbinders circle die. The little owls from Clearly Besotted's "You're a Hoot," were a prize I won on a blog contest quite awhile ago. I colored them with Copics and die cut them out to peek through the circles. 

The sentiment from Reverse Confetti's "So Many Sentiments" was embossed in white on black cardstock and trimmed down. Both it and the white panel were attached with dimensional tape. 

It's very, very windy here, but so far no power outages. Halloween was almost a wash-out. We got just a few trick or treaters in the brief span when there was no rain, and a few die-hards after it starting raining again. Sarah said the other day that her memories of Halloween growing up were that they were cold and snowy! I do remember a couple where we had snow, but more of them were simply cold. Last night, however, it was in the 60's.

 

 

The Flower Challenge: Take 2

It's the Flower Challenge's 3rd Birthday and this month's challenge is CAS. It's a favorite style of mine, so I wanted to get in another entry before the challenge ends tomorrow. 

I haven't tired of Altenew's "Weekend Doodles" set so here's another variation:

The floral image was stamped on Bristol cardstock and watercolored with Altenew Tropical Fiesta markers. After die cutting it, I added it to Fresh Snow linen cardstock that I had used Papertrey Ink's "Pierced Rectanges" to create a frame. 

The sentiment is from an older Papertrey Ink set called "Birthday Style." After adding the white panel to a Hawaiian Shores card, I added a few Rainstones as embellishment. 

There's lots of white space, which qualifies it for Clean and Simple.

Time Out: Encouraging

It's been awhile since I posted two days in a row! But I have a card for the current challenge at Time Out which is "Encouraging."

I often need these cards, and I love the little wreath from Altenew's "Weekend Doodles."

I colored the wreath in fall colors and die cut it, adding it with some dimensional tape to a card of Fresh Snow Linen after adding a strip of patterned paper from the "Winter Woods" collection--all Papertrey Ink.

Another Clean and Simple card added to the stash!

 

 

Halloween is Coming!

Typically, I'd wait until Halloween to share this year's cards, but the Simon Says Wednesday challenge is Halloween and I know for a fact, none of my grandchildren read my blog!

Luckily this year, I get to hand deliver cards to all five of them---though not on the same day. First off, for Hannah. All the supplies are from Papertrey Ink with the exception of the sentiment which is a sticker from Michael's.

 

The only embellishment was to glitter the stars and the witch's boots with the Nuvo Clear Glitter pen which doesn't show in the photograph.

All the rest of the cards are very similar. I used the "Caught in the Web" die, "To Die For Sentiments: Halloween" and "Ghosts and Ghoulies" from Ink to Paper. Caleb's (below) didn't get any glitter, but it does have a fuzzy spider with black eyes and eight legs. 

The rest all feature glitter in one form or another. This one has a glittery purple card base and the letters of the sentiment were covered with glitter.

This time it's the web that's die cut from silver glitter paper.

There's a fifth card with a black glittery web, but somehow I don't have a photo of it, and it's already in a sealed envelope.  Here, however, are the goodie bags for the little girls. Caleb and Hannah's are already packed for our trip to Wisconsin.

Here's hoping the weather cooperates for all the little trick & treaters!