random reflections

The Flower Challenge

I've just recently found The Flower Challenge, and finally had time to make a card for the current challenge: use your latest stamps and dies. While we were in Racine, I got an email from Pink Fresh Studio (one of my new favorite companies) offering a free set of dies if you purchased the stamps. Caleb was sitting near me, and said I ought to go for it, since I would have new stamps when I sent him a card. I don't think he realized it was a floral set. I needed a thank you note and after stamping all the flowers from the "Fleur 1" set, decided to color this simple cluster of flowers and leaves. 

The sentiment is also from a new set from Papertrey Ink--"You Made My Day," although I've had it a bit longer, I've never used it. I love how the flowers just fit around the sentiment.

I'm quite sure this combo will be pulled out again when I need a quick, CAS thank you note. 

AAA Cards: Guest Designer

I'm thrilled to be joining the AAA Cards as Guest Designer. This honor follows another one---winning the "Mostly White" challenge in December. Luckily, I was able to postpone my guest designer stint until after our January travels. The challenge for CAS Game #134 is "One Corner" with an optional twist of "Music." 

It was a bit of a surprise to me that I own very few "musical" stamps, and none that would grace a corner design. Instead I went with a relatively new Pretty Pink Posh floral set, "Anemones." One of the criteria for the AAA Card Challenge is to have significant white space unadorned with any embossing folder or design. 

After coloring the images from the Anemones with Copic markers, I fussy cut them out. I mounted the flowers on the corner of the Fresh Snow Linen card with dimensional tape, and then tucked the leaves in underneath. The sentiment from Simon Says "Tiny Words," was embossed in white on a thin strip of black cardstock. Simple, CAS for sure, and lovely, I think.

Here's a closer look at the flowers. I added some dots to the center of the flowers with a black Glaze pen, but it doesn't photograph well! Thanks to the team at AAA Card Challenges for the honor of guest designing, and to STAMPlorations for the generous gift certificate.

 

Happy Valentines Day!

I have two more valentines to share today, and some more for another post tomorrow. Today's cards use the positive and negatives of the same die. The first card was inspired by Dawn McVey's card during Papertrey Ink's December release. 

I used My Favorite Things nested heart dies to cut hearts from Pure Poppy (my favorite PTI color,) Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Pink, and Lovely Lady. Then I layered the hearts, one on the other, using dimensional tape. I love the way it came out. The sentiment is from the Hero Art's January kit which I embossed in white on a strip of black cardstock.

When I finished the card, I had three hearts laying on my desk, and wanted to make a valentine for the sixth grader I tutor twice a week. 

Once again, I used my favorite Pure Poppy for the card base and the largest and smallest of the hearts. The white panel was created with an old Cuttlebug embossing folder on Fresh Snow Linen cardstock which was also lying on my desk from a previous project. This was definitely the quickest of the valentines I made. The sentiment is from an oldie but goodie: Papertrey Inks "Tiny Treats: Valentine."

I layered these hearts with dimensional tape as well.

I'm entering these at Papertrey Ink's new Win It Wednesday challenge. Laura Schmidlin is hosting a "favorite" there. Last week it was a favorite stamp; this week it's your favorite color of cardstock. Pure Poppy wins hands-down!

I'm joining The Card Concept "Love is in the Air" as well.

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope it's a good one. We went out to dinner to celebrate on Saturday night. We had a fabulous meal at one of the best Italian restaurants in town. I was chair of the planning committee that hosted a Presbytery-wide conference on Saturday. We had over 200 people register, and most of them attended. We decided celebrating Valentine's Day early had a double advantage. I was definitely not interested in cooking that night, and Valentine's Day can be crazy at a restaurant. We're having meatloaf at home tonight---one of Tracy's favorites.

 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Black, White plus One

The new challenge at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is "Black, White, plus One Other Color." I have my favorite color combination in a valentine for a friend: black, white, and red.

Creating this card gave me an opportunity to use two new products: Papertrey Ink's "Shape Shifter Oval #4" and Penny Black's "Love is Growing" die. I purchased the Penny Black die at my favorite store in Florida---Whim So Doodle. I'm not often in Florida, but if I am, and I can get to Whim So Doodle I don't pass up the opportunity. They carry an extensive array of art supplies, journaling supplies, stamps, stencils, and dies. There's nothing like it anywhere near here.

I die cut the two outer layers of the Shape Shifter die and adhered the Penny Black die to the center. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Keep It Simple: Valentine" set which got a workout this year. I think I used it on nearly every valentine I made-either inside or on the front.

Although you can see it a bit better here, it's still hard to tell that I coated the three hearts with Nuvo Crystal Glaze, and then added three "Clear Drops" by Katia Studio.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more valentines.

Valentine Challenges

It's been a crazy week, but in between all the appointments and commitments I managed to get some valentines made. The ones going to Wisconsin were in the mail earlier this week. I have one to share today for a couple of challenges. First off, the current Time Out Challenge:

I was attracted to the red and white color combination, the embossed background, and of course the hearts. On our way to Wisconsin in January, we stopped at Buffalo Stamps and Things. All Alexandra Renke products were 20% off with a coupon so I picked up some paper, a die, and two embossing folders. This one was perfect for Valentine's Day, but I can easily see using it for an anniversary or a wedding card.

After running the white cardstock through with the embossing folder, I used an old, old corner punch to add a bit more interest. The sentiment, from Papertrey Ink's "Keep It Simple: Valentine" was embossed in gold on a banner die cut from Pure Poppy cardstock. The whole panel then was added to a top-folding Pure Poppy card. CAS, but pretty.

Here's a closer look at the amazing dimension you get with the embossing folder. 

I'm also linking this up to Simon Says Monday Challenge: Add Some Red.

Seize the Birthday: Black and White

The current optional "topping" at Seize the Birthday is Black and White. I often participate in the challenge without using the "topping," but this time I had an idea and decided to go with it. I'm a huge fan of red, black, and white, but I don't think I've ever created a card (birthday or otherwise) that was just black and white. Here's what I came up with:

I knew I wanted a tone on tone background. Last weekend, I organized and cataloged my die collection so I knew I had the perfect Impression Plate by Papertrey Ink for a birthday card: "By the Numbers." I also found an Impress die that cuts five candles and I die cut them from a variety of patterned papers by My Favorite Things. After I embossed the sentiment from Papertrey's "Wishes Come True," there was really only room for three candles. Since this isn't meant to be an age-related birthday card three candles was fine.

I have another idea or two for this challenge, but need several "custom" birthday cards for friends and family before I start playing again.

Since this is definitely CAS, I'm also entering it in the CAS on Friday challenge which is "Birthday."

Seize the Birthday

Seize the Birthday has become one of my favorite challenges; possibly because at least half the cards I make each year are birthday cards. Any birthday card is allowed for all of the challenges, but there is also a "topping" challenge each time. The current topping is "stamping only." Theses cards almost meet that criteria. Both cards do use a Stitched Circle die from Simon Says, and a few rhinestones, but it's probably as close as I get to a stamping only card. 

Both cards use Simon Says gray cardstocks and Simon Says "Bohemian Lace" stamp set. The sentiment for the card on the right is from Papertrey Ink's "Good Times" stamp set, and the one on the left has a sentiment white embossed on a thin black strip from Mama Elephant's "Occasional Labels." Here's a closer look:

I've put creating a stamping only birthday card on my "to do" list. The challenge is open until January 29th, so it just might happen!

 

CAS on Friday: Flowers

I have another card made with the Pinkfresh Studio "Dainty Flowers" and "Noteworthy Frames." This one is a thank you note for a friend who gave us a very generous and unexpected gift certificate for Christmas.

The dainty flowers were die cut from metallic cardstocks and tucked into the "Noteworthy Frame" die cut in Soft Stone. That piece was die cut with my trusty "Stitched Rectangle" die from Simon Says. The sentiment from Papertrey's "Thank You Kindly" set was stamped in black . Finally, that panel was adhered to a top-folded card from "Smoke" cardstock (Simon Says.) 

This card is for the current CAS on Friday Challenge: Flowers.

 

Time Out: Loving

The current challenge at Time Out is "Loving" and although it's definitely time to think about Valentines, I have a wedding card to share. It's another CAS design, but one I love and will definitely use again. It would work for a wedding, anniversary, or a Valentine, I think.

One of my favorite ever products from Papertrey Ink are their Mix and Mat dies. Each set has three dies that come grouped together. You can die cut them as is, or separate them and use two together, or each separately. In this case, I used the two inner dies from the "Pretty Brackets" set die cut in white.

I trimmed it down and used foam tape to add some dimension before adhering it to a white card. I'm a huge fan of white on white, and all the card needed was a some heart from My Favorite Things heart dies cut from Pure Poppy cardstock.

I love the stitched edge around the middle die cut on this Mix and Mat die. I decided against adding a sentiment to the front of the card, and went with the wedding messages on the inside. 

Happy Birthday for Two Challenges

I'm back with a CAS birthday card for the current challenges at Seize the Birthday and Wednesday's Simon Says Challenge: Use Something New.

Sometime in November I purchased two dies I'd been eyeing for some time: the Pink Fresh Studio's "Dainty Blossoms" and the Noteworthy Frames. After Christmas I had time to play with them. Today's card uses only the "Dainty Blossoms," but I'll be back later with some cards using both dies. I love the way they look, but I must admit that die cutting the blossoms requires some time and patience even with a metal shim. I do not, however, regret either purchase. 

This card uses just two of the eight dies included, both die cut from metallic cardstock (which might have been one of the reasons they didn't cut so easily.) I adhered them to a white card and added a bow tied with beautiful silver cord that my friend, Michelle, gave me. The sentiment is embossed with Platinum embossing powder on one of Papertrey Inks "Skinny Mini Banners." I almost didn't order that set of dies, but I'm already glad I did. It was the perfect size for one of Simon Says "Tiny Words" phrases (another new purchase with a lucky blog win from Simon Says.)

It's cold and raining here, and we woke up to no heat. A heating contractor is due here in an hour or so, and I'm hoping it's a simple fix. We certainly don't want to leave the house without any heat while we're away for a week.