Happy Harvest

Hello fall! We can't escape the pumpkins, leaves and other fall holiday staples in all the stores now! For the Tic Tac Toe Challlenge #181 this week, designed by Jeanne, I chose the top row from left to right: Leaves, Ribbon, Autumn Colors.

I stopped by the Pink and Main store  near me and was asked if I wanted to do a make and take. This card was the result. All products on it (except the bow) are Pink and Main. I may or may not have bought a few fun items while I was there, but I had to resist a lot more! 

We hope you will join us this week and get into the upcoming holidays and activities!

-Carol

Season of Friendship

I just tried an old technique that I always liked but never actually sat down to do...and this is the card I ended up with for this week's Just Us Girls Photo Week Challenge #651, chosen by my friend and design teammate Nancy!

Products I used:

Rubber Stampede: tree

JudiKins: speckles

Concord and 9th: mini ink pads

Pink and Main: enamel dots

Stampin' Up!: Season of Friendship die set

Sugar Pea Designs: stitched rectangle die

I discovered that I don't have any fall leaf dies or stamps. (I have a few fall leaf stamps but I don't love them and use them every fall) As you can see in the picture, I got out some oldie stamps on wood blocks. It was a little tricky to stamp the "leaves" on the larger card panel and get the shape of the tree just right. I stamped the tree and "leaves" again on another panel where I did most of my stamping, then cut it down to a smaller rectangle and matted it with brown card stock. I adhered the front strip onto the white A2 stamped panel with foam tape and added a few enamel dots because the card looked too flat/blah to me. I die cut an A2 sized brown card stock panel and adhered it to the front of a top folding white A2 card base, then added my stamped panel on top. That's it!

We hope you will join us this week with your fall cards! 

-Carol

Eek!

The CAS Colours and Sketches #487 has a very simple drawing right now and I thought I would use a brand new stamp from Pink and Main to showcase it. I am also sharing it over at Perfectly CAS #31: Halloween, and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. Here is my card!

Products I used:

Pink and Main: Halloween Brew, Buffalo Plaid embossing folder

My Favorite Things: Trendy Tag

Prismacolor pencils

Distress inks

Isn't she a cute spider? (-said no one ever!) I masked her head and hat and stenciled the clouds. Then I masked around her head and ink blended her face with two orangey inks. I colored the rest with pencils. I hope I am not too early for Halloween...I just couldn't wait to use my new stamp set!

I guess I have left summer behind and am in fall mode now! Are you?

-Carol

It's Fall

This week at the Just Us Girls Color Challenge #650 Color Week Challenge our sweet teammate Bobby chose orange, green and brown. I just got a new fall die set today and had to try it out, too!

Products I used: 

Trinity Stamps: Boo Brew die set

Hero Arts: Tags die set

Sunny Studio: Loopy Letters Lower die set

Stampin' Up!: Patterned papers, ribbon

Concord and 9th: mini ink pads

Sponge daubers

Vellum

The cup is easy to put together and the leaves and curly cues are fun additions for the cup. I ink blended the cinnamon stick a little as I did with the letters in my sentiment to add brown and orange to them all. I can't wait to make a Halloween card or tags with the rest of the Boo Brew die set. There are also other cute dies in the set: a spider and a fun ghost! Join us with this fall color scheme this week. See you in the gallery?

-Carol

Caffeinated Christmas Challenge

I saw this challenge over at the Caffeinated Christmas Challenge and thought it would work with a new stamp and die set I got this summer. So I made a two tags to put on a 5 x 7 card to look like a wrapped package with tags. Caffeinated Christmas Challenge #9 is Candy or Cookie. Here is my idea!

Products I used:

Pink and Main: Sweet Christmas stamps and dies sets

Trinity Stamps: Teacup

Prismacolor pencils

Wink of Stella pen (for sparkle on the cookies and cake pops)

Joanne Fabrics: seed beads (used as marshmallows in the cup)

Silver card stock

First I made the 5 x 7 "package" card. Next I made the cookie sheet with silver card stock, then stamped and colored the cookies/cake pops. Then I made the teacup shaker (in my mind for peppermint tea or coffee with peppermint creamer) and tied them both to the "package." I love a shaker but find them difficult to make. I get glue all over my fingers and on my acetate. This time it was slightly easier because I used a sticky-backed foam sheet to build up the shaker inside. Do you struggle with shakers, too? I think their cuteness is worth it.

 Hope this card made you smile today. I enjoyed making it.

-Carol

Happiest of Birthdays

This week I am the hostess of the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #179, which means I created the board. I hope you find it easy to find something to make from it! Here is my card using the center column moving down: Wreath, Wood, Patterned paper. I CASEd a card from Papertrey Ink, which I have included below.

Papertrey Ink card that I CASEd

Products I used:

Papertrey Ink: Frame Decor stamp and die set, Wreath for all Seasons Stamp set (older)

Stampin' Up!: patterned paper (older), Classic ink pads

Woodgrain die

Handmade wood plank

Pretty Pink Posh: gems

I ink blended Going Gray and Crumb Cake inks with a blender brush on a piece of white card stock. I ran it through my Big Shot with a woodgrain die for texture. I watered down white acrylic paint and lightly brushed it over the woodgrain card panel  to make it look like whitewashed wood. I dried it with my heat gun, then cut it into planks. 

I stamped and die cut the wreaths, although I had to fussy cut the center one that is from a really old PTI stamp set! Next, I cut a piece of plain white card stock and scored it like wainscoting. I picked a grey, simple patterned paper to look like wallpaper and mounted the scored piece on it. Then I set up my wooden rack and hung its wreaths. I added bows and rhinestones, then stamped the sentiment...all from the one set. (My card turned out to be 5.5" by 7" so I had to make two 5.5" by 7" panels. I scored one, on its short end, at 1/4", then added red line tape to connect the two panels up at that end. I burnished the score line open so that the card can open but stays the 5.5" by 7" size when closed. I will have to make my own envelope, but I like using my envelope making tool!)

Be sure to check out the team's cards! They are really inspiring! We hope you join us this week! 

-Carol

 

Noel

I need to shop my stash once in a while and remember that I have things that I couldn't live without and "had to" buy. I love these wreath dies and although it takes patience and time, they give a nice result in the end. The Christmas Craft Creations September theme is Ribbon/Twine. Here is my use of twine!

Products I used: 

Simon Says Stamp: Ring Wreath die, Ornament Wreath die

The Twinery: Twine

Rhinestones

Assorted card stock

Stampin' Up!: sentiment, Classic ink pad in Bermuda Bay

I cut out the Ring Wreath die three times, once each with the pink, aqua and red. Then I cut the Ornament Wreath die in white. I used temporary adhesive to hold down one of the Ring Wreath dies so that I could move around and place the dots and snowflakes from each color in the openings. When the little pieces were where I was happy with them I glued them to the A2 white card front. Then I pulled up the Ring Wreath that was held down with temporary adhesive, and replaced it permanently with the white Ornament wreath, this time on foam tape for dimension. I added rhinestones and more little die cuts in the last open spots on the Ornament wreath. I tied three strands of twine in the same colors of my wreath into a bow and ran some of the strands up and over the top of the card to show that the wreath is hanging.

That's it! We hope you will join us in the gallery with your ribbon and twine adorned cards this month! Be sure to follow all of the guidelines on the top right side of our home page so you are eligible to win a prize!

-Carol

Hello Fall

Well, it is September and almost fall, so I thought it was time to break out the autumn feels in cardmaking. I am playing along with two challenges, Inspired By IB202 Apple Harvest and Global Design Project GDP359 Autumn/Fall theme.

For the Inspired By Challenge I was drawn to the apples, the grass and the basket colors. Apple picking and baking are what came to my mind with this picture. The Global Design Project picture made me think of the weather cooling down, going to the pumpkin patch and the changing colors of fall.

I borrowed a friend's Hello die a while ago and die cut several in different colors. The FALL letters came from a W Plus 9 Die that says FABULOUS, so I cut it twice (to get two L's) from yellow card stock and ink blended orange and brown on each to look like the changing colors of fall. I used Concord and 9th inks and little daubers to add the colors.

I cut the apple patterned paper into a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 panel, then used a stitched die from Sugar Pea to get the stitched edges in the middle of the panel. I put some old Stampin' Up! apple patterned paper in between the two apple pieces, then adhered the three pieces with foam tape. I had to cut the panel back to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" again with the addition of the green apple paper.

I made an A2 red card base and popped up the completed panel onto it. I added three glitter brads (with the prongs cut off) in red, coppery/orange and green and adhered them to the bottom right side of my card with glue dots. Now I feel like baking something with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves!

Hope you are having a good transition to fall from summer!

-Carol

Ho Ho Ho

We have a really fun challenge for you this week chosen by my wonderful teammate Carol M. (She is why I am named Carol Mc here!) at Just Us Girls Challenge Trend Week #649: Repetition! There are so many ways to approach it! Check out this video from Cathy Zielske! She has many obvious and subtle ways to repeat elements in your design. I'm also sharing my card over at Inkspirational Challenges #273 Repetition!

Products I used:

Simon Says Stamp: Ho Ho Ho die

Plaid card stock: Joann Fabrics or Hobby Lobby

Ellen Hutson: 'Tis the Season, retired set (I adore this Santa and use him a lot!)

Rhinestones

Copic markers

Wink of Stella Clear sparkle pen

Glossy accents (sunglass lenses)

Versafine Archival Onyx Black ink pad

My card demonstrates the obvious: the repeated word Ho, the Santas and the rhinestones three times each. I made a white card base, then cut the HO HO HO from a panel of red plaid card stock. I mounted this red piece on the card front, then looked for a Santa to repeat three times.  I grabbed a favorite and stamped/colors/fussy cut him to fit the three spots on the card that seemed empty. I gave the beards and hats glimmer with my Wink of Stella pen. I added Glossy Accents to the glasses and finished off the card with three rhinestones in the middle of each O.

This challenge was a fun one and one that I see myself using this year for the holidays, although you can use it for any occasion! Be sure to check out all the fun ideas my teammates came up with as well. We look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

-Carol

Sending You Joy

For our Just Us Girls Challenge Word Week #648 my teammate Sue has chosen the word Basket. The two little basket stamps that I have just didn't inspire me, so I looked around Pinterest and CASEd a darling card that was created with an SVG file. I don't have that program or the machine that cuts it, so I decided I had to make it from scratch.

The card I CASEd linked here

I began by making the basket (from a patterned paper rectangle whose sides I cut on an angle to be slightly wider at the top) to fit an A2 sized card. I used an older SU! punch for the vents at the bottom of the basket, then, using an equally old SU! stamp set, I did the rock and roll technique to stamp 9 strawberries with two red inks and 9 strawberries again with two green inks. I fussy cut the red strawberries, then the green leaves, and glued the leaves on top of the strawberries. Next I assembled the basket and berries. I decided I needed to stencil a background in the top 2/3 of the card front. After that I masked off the top of the card front so that I could use an ink blending brush to create the "table" at the very bottom. Last, I bent a clear sentiment stamp onto a clear block to stamp in an arch shape and stamped it over the strawberries. That's it!

Products I used:

Stampin' Up!: stamp set, punch and patterned paper

Concord and 9th mini ink pads

Tim Holtz stencil

Ink blending brushes

Waffle Flower: Riding By stamp set for sentiment

Twine

We hope you will join our basket themed challenge this week! There is a lot of inspiration for different takes on "basket" from the design team! See you in the gallery!

-Carol

Love. Hugs. Sunshine.

Our latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge #177 is here and I chose the bottom row left to right: Yellow, CAS, Metallic. I have not used these stamps before, if I remember correctly, but I DO use Mr. Bear in this adorable set a lot!!! Here is my Clean and Simple attempt with a little metallic on the side. (There is also Wink of Stella sparkle inside the Love and Hugs!)

Products I used:

Ellen Hutson: All Inside stamp set

Versafine Archival Onyx Black Ink

Silver metallic twine

Prismacolor pencils

Zig: Wink of Stella clear (sparkle) pen

We hope you will join us this week! It's beginning to look like fall is here!

-Carol

Hello Sunshine

It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge #177 this week designed by Stef! I chose the middle row left to right: Watercolor, Leaves/Trees, Stitching, because where I live it is still summer hot! But if you are already in fall mode, there is a lot you can do with this board as well.

I watched and rewatched a video by the very talented Ashley for Ink to Paper here. She does a great job explaining how to get this look. I need more practice with this watercolor technique, but it was fun to try it out! This stamp set is a 2-step process with each tree trunk, the palm fronds and the water/sky/beach. When all the elements were ready, I decided to pop up my palm fronds and sun on foam tape for dimension. 

Products I used:

Ink to Paper: Beachy Keen stamp and die set

Simon Says Stamp: Stitched rectangle dies

Aqua painter

Variety of ink pads

Spray bottle with water

Buttons Galore: sequins

We hope you will play along with us this week! There is a variety of ways you can go with this board!

-Carol