All About Plaid

 

This week's Just Us Girls Challenge, Wild Card Week #617, is Plaid. Easy enough, right? Here is my little shaker card...using a plaid patterned paper that I just love (and wish I had bought more of it). 

Products used:

Simon Says Stamp Peeking Pup die and Intense Black Ink

My Favorite Things Inside and Out Stitched Circle Dies

Distress inks

Blender brushes

Stampin' Up! glitter, white glitter cardstock, chalk

Happy birthday die - unknown source

Patterned paper - source forgotten

To make the shaker I cut the pup die first from a piece of white cardstock, then used little Post It notes to mask him off for ink blending the ears. I used chalk to make his cheeks blush. I used another Post It with a hole I made with a hand held hole punch. That became a mask for the spot around the dog's eye. I cut a small piece of black cardstock to put behind the openings for its eyes and nose and attached it to the back of the dog's face with Tacky Glue. Next I used a circle die to cut around the round opening so it would be a ring/frame around the dog. I cut another circle with acetate and adhered it to the back of the ring/dog. Then I cut a ring with two circle dies out of fun foam and attached it to the back of the acetate. I made one more ring with plaid paper and attached it on top of the ring around the dog. Last, I piled up some glitter on the card front and glued the shaker over it. I die cut the sentiment and attached it over the top of the shaker and I was done! Come join us with some plaid...which could be ribbon, too!!

See you next week!

-Carol

Snowone Like You

This week at Just Us Girls Challenge #616 Photo Inspiration Week the picture couldn't be cuter!! So I got busy and made a snow couple juggling snowballs together!

I inked blended a few blues together on a white 5 1/4" x 4" panel, then stenciled one of the blue inks here and there with the My Favorite Things Full of Heart stencil. Next, I used Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink to stamp, then die cut, the Happy Snowman twice. I also stamped one scarf in red, added a little shadow with a grey Copic marker to the snow people, and colored their noses and buttons with Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write markers. I added a bow for the girl with baker's twine.

I cut snow drifts with Simon Says Stamp Drifting Stitches Borders dies and layered them on the bottom of the inked panel to start a snowy scene. I happened to see a sample of this snowman stamp used with a pile of extra snowballs and decided to CASE that idea. Then I added more snowballs for the couple to juggle to each other. I used a sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh's Winter Wonderland stamp set, popped up the panel on a white A2 card base, and decided that the card was complete!

Stop by to see all the inspiration on our blog and join in the fun!

-Carol

Kick Up Your Heels!

 This week for Tic Tac Toe Challenge #145 we have a new "January/winter" inspired board for you. I chose the bottom row across: die cut, blue, bird because my friend Nancy gave me the most adorable set of bird dies (Sizzix Thinlits called Robins in Hats) for Christmas that I was tempted to get twice on our pre-holiday Hobby Lobby shopping trips! I am playing along with Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies with my card also!

First, I decided to make a mini slimline card. Then I ink blended the colors I wanted for my bird body and feathers on a piece of white cardstock, then cut out the bird pieces and put them together. What fun! Next I hand cut a sparkly snowy hill for her to dance on, along with some trees using my Tim Holtz Christmas minis dies. I had left over silver stars that I had punched at Christmas, so I put them in the sky. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set I have had forever called High Heels. 

Hope you are kicking up your heels this long weekend and having time to be crafty! Join us over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge!

-Carol

Hello: Masked Flowers

This week at Just Us Girls Challenge #615 it's Color Week with light blue, white and silver! There are so many things you can do with this combination: winter scenes, baby and wedding cards, or floral, like I chose. A couple of ideas popped into my head and then I saw a masked floral card on Pinterest and made it my way!

                       

I used Altenew's Beautiful Day stamp set by choosing a larger flower and a sprig of little flowers. I stamped them repeatedly on a 5 1/4" x 4" white card panel using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink. I stamped them again on Post It notes and cut them out by hand to make masks. I placed my masks over the stamped images, then ink blended Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink for the background. I removed the masks, spritzed on a little bit of black ink and added punched silver hearts in the open spaces. Then I mounted the stamped panel on a black  5 1/2" x 4 1/4" panel and adhered that to a white A2 card base.

I really think this week's color combo is versatile and hope you do too! Come join us!

-Carol

Believe

I'm very excited to say that I am a new design team member for Christmas Craft Creations and what could be better than to play along with us and have your Christmas cards made by the time December arrives!  I hope you will get out your stencils or be inspired to create your own with dies and punches! This first theme of 2022 is Stencilling! I love to make my own stencils from dies and punches, and that is what I did here.

I first die cut a circle out of a piece of card stock to make a positive stencil and a mask. Then I used the negative stencil to cover the card base and stenciled yellow ink in a blotchy way inside the circle. Next, I  removed the negative stencil and put the circle mask I cut down (with temporary adhesive) on the ink blended moon. I ink blended around the moon to cover the whole card base using several colors of blue ink. Next I made a stars stencil with copy paper using a star border punch. I stencilled with white ink to make stars in the night sky.

I stamped Santa and his sleigh as well as the trees with black ink. I spritzed water on the card panel with my hand to get a splotchy look. Last, I cut the Believe sentiment with gold textured card stock and adhered it to the panel. 

I cut down my stamped panel to 5 1/4" x 4" so that I could show the black glitter paper behind it. I attached the glitter paper to an A2 white card base and my card was complete!

Products used:

Santa and Sleigh stamp: Kitchen Sink

Trees from Lovely as a Tree: Stampin Up!

Star border punch: Stampin' Up!

Believe die: Not sure...maybe The Stamp Market?

Black ink: Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink

Distress Oxide dies in Pickett Fence, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Cobalt ink: Archival Ink

Ink blending brushes

I hope you will join us for this fun, stencil theme...there are so many possibilities with stencilling whether you own ready made or handmade stencils!

Hope to see your post in our challenge soon!

-Carol 

Keep on Swimming!!

I'm back once again for Just Us Girls Trend Week #614 Inked or Sprayed Backgrounds! I've been wanting to make a "card" like this with the raised layers and had time/patience to try it. I also wanted to watercolor a sea inspired project this week as it is still warm in Florida!

I got out some watercolor paper, an aqua painter and some stamps and dies. I watercolored all over three 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 watercolor paper panels, making sure no two were exactly alike in pattern or dominant colors. I stamped the schools of fish next, then stamped, colored and die cut the fish, crab and sentiment. Next I cut domes from two of the panels in two different sizes. I popped up the top two dome panels on double layers of foam tape, then added my sea creatures and sentiment into the scene. The sequins were added last and the front card panel was complete! But from the sides you could see the foam tape, so I went to Splitcoaststampers for a tutorial on a shadow box card that I knew I had seen at some point. I made just the frame from this tutorial and glued my card front panel down into it. It took some calculations to make my frame fit the card panel exactly, but after two tries it was right! (I'm not a math wiz!)

Products used:

Simon Says Stamp Under the Sea Animals stamps and dies

Stampin' Up! Sea Street school of fish stamp

Waffle Flower Dome dies

Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink for sentiment and sea creatures

Distress Inks and Stampin' Up! Classic inks for watercolor

Pretty Pink Posh jewels

Copic markers

Hope you enjoyed my shadow box and you will join us this week for some inked backgrounds!

-Carol

 

You're The Coolest!

I am so pleased to be a new member of the Just Us Girls Challenge Design Team! I am so excited to work with these talented ladies! For the new year it is Word Week #613: Beverage. Get out your bottles, cups, mugs and other drinks and join us! Here is my card:

Products used on my card: 

My Favorite Things: Soda Pop stamps and dies

Stampin' Up!: Pop bottles patterned paper

Li'l Davis Designs: bottle cap

My favorite part of this card is the silver straw...like the metal ones people have for personal use now instead of those icky paper ones! I sure hope you will have fun coming up with a beverage card and that you will join us this week!

-Carol