Hello Sunshine

It has been very warm and sunny in Florida but with low humidity and that's what we like! We also sat for two hours right on the water at a little casual restaurant on Saturday where boats can dock and the people come in to eat. The waiter told us to stay as long as we wanted (it wasn't busy) so we enjoyed the 180 degree view, the water, the birds and the boats going by us. So for our Just Us Girls CASE a Design Team Member #729 I was in the mood to make this beachy card. (CASE stands for Copy and Selectively Edit, aka make your own version.) Choose one (or more) of our cards to remake in your own way!

Here is a photo of one of the benches were people wait "outside" for a table in the open air restaurant.

Products I used:

Simon Says Stamp: Hello Sunshine Frame

Ellen Hutson:  Beach Day stamp set

SugarPea Designs: Wave stencil

Distress Inks

Copic markers

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

After die cutting the frame 4 times, I popped out one frame's "Sunshine" die cut and ink blended yellow and orange to be ombré. I adhered all of the frames together so they would be thicker and stand out from the card. I popped the "sunshine" back in. Then, I stamped the seagull and colored him before fussy cutting him and attaching him to the frame.  I stenciled the waves on a scrap of white cardstock and adhered it to the back of the frame. I die cut the sun ( it comes with the frame die) and popped it up on the corner of the frame with foam tape. All I had to do was adhere the completed frame to the card base!

We hope you will be inspired by one (or more) of our cards and CASE us. Be sure to tell us which card(s) you CASEd. We love to see what you design based on our cards!

See you in the gallery!

Carol

Happy 4th!

I was happy to see that The Color Throwdown #ctd795 is Red, Blue and White this week! I look forward to making 4th of July cards. Here is my first card for the holiday this year.

I am also playing along at The Card Concept 207 where I was inspired by our patriotic colors. My card style here is clean and layered.

Products I used:

Penny Black: Friendship stamp

Stampin' Up!: patterned paper, sentiment stamp, banner die, and ink

Copic markers

Prismacolor pencils

Distress ink

Twine

I previously posted this card today, but wanted to color the dogs more and removed my original card where I had only used grey for the dogs' coats. I checked the Color Throwdown's rules and saw that it was okay to use browns! This is the updated card.

There are very light ink blended clouds in the background as well. I also put their patriotic collars on for the holiday and the twine mimics rope on a boat. The banner and circle are popped up on foam tape for dimension.

Only a month away from this big holiday...that's a lot of time to craft up some more things for it!

-Carol

Be-You-Tiful Spotlight Technique

It's been a long time since I did the spotlight technique and Inkspirational Challenges #316 is just that! My card has a 6" x 6" stamped image cut down to A2 size. It doesn't take too long to make this style of card because the coloring is at a minimum. Here is how mine turned out.

Here is the card I CASEd from the Elizabeth Craft Designs website. I believe EK Gorman made this cool card. I think her spotlighting shows up better because it isn't as busy as my  floral stamp. 

Products I used:

MFT: Harmonious Hibiscus background stamp, Inside and Out stitched Rectangle dies

Ellen Hutson: Be-You-Tiful die

Altenew: Artist makrers

Copic markers

Simon Says Stamp: Intense black ink pad

Dark pink and black cardstock scraps

Black rhinestones

Foam tape

Bearly Arts glue

First I stamped the whole A2 panel with my large stamp. I die cut two rectangles from the center of that panel and colored the middle rectangle with markers.

I glued the outer part of my stamped panel to the front of my card base. Next, I matted the inner two rectangles with pink cardstock and adhered them on top of the large rectangle with foam tape.  

I wanted to mute the busy stamping on the smallest rectangle so I die cut the sentiment from black cardstock, then traced the die on vellum. I fussy cut the vellum mat and adhered the black sentiment to the vellum with tiny dots of glue. I adhered the completed sentiment onto the center of the card front and added rhinestones. In the picture you can't really see the vellum, and it isn't too obvious in real life, but it does the trick to mute the busy design behind it.

Pinterest has lots of styles of Spotlight technique cards. If you are in the mood to color, this is the card for you.

See you back here soon,

Carol

You Are Very Cool

It is kind of fun, sometimes a little stressful, when you first find out the parameters at Craft Roulette on Friday nights. But after you hear Mary Gunn talk through how you could interpret them, your card idea starts to become clear. Charm was the one that threw me at first. So I slept on it, and dug into my stash and found a pack of "soft charms" that are rubbery and so cute!

Craft Roulette #216 Parameters 

Project: A2

Colors: Baseball Park

Element: Number(s)

Random: Charm(s)

My take on these is the A2 card (obviously), red and white "boat" to hold your hot dog/pink cotton candy/blue snow cones, clock numbers and my soft charm for a sentiment. I also used silver cardstock for the metal stadium bleachers. The dotted embossed background mimics baseballs at the ball park.

This was the first time I used my alarm clock dies and it is really fun. They give a retro feel, don't they? I also thought the soft charm does too.

Products I used:

The Greetery: Hearts at Home: Clock die

Taylored Expressions: Happy Summer Banner dies

Stampin Up!: Decorative Dots embossing folder 

Elsie: Soft Charms "Roxie" (Super old product from scrapbooking days, but I see card inspiration in them for future cards! It does pay to hoard things in your stash!)

First I die cut and asssembled the clock to match the soft charm colors. Funny to have the charm drive the colors of the whole card, right? 

Next, I cut out the "You Are" from "Happy Summer" banner dies, fussy cutting only the letters I needed from the banners. I had to freehand an O, then added the red star for the center of it since it was going to be too hard to cut out the center (and it matches the red star in between the "Very" and "Cool").

I ran a piece of white cardstock through the Big Shot with the embossing folder.

I cut two strips of turquoise cardstock for the edges of my card front.

All that was left was to arrange and adhere everything to complete my card!

If you like a challenge, you should watch the Craft Roulette episodes on Friday evenings at 7:30 EDT. Last night Gina K and her daughter Rina were the guests who had to make their cards in real time along with Mary. 

I hope you are having a restful long Memorial Day weekend. Bye for now!

-Carol

 

A Magical Birthday Card

Hello there! I am so excited to be back with my second Guest Designer spot for May at Time Out Challenges. TO #264 challenges you to be Magical. So, I chose a Mermaid. In European folklore, mermaids were natural beings like fairies, and had magical powers. They loved music and often sang. Here is my card, made for a friend's grandchild.

I told a friend that I was making a mermaid card and offered to give it to her for one of her granddaughters. The day after I gave it to her she brought over a half dozen of these cookies she made to send with the card. Can you believe how she matched the mermaid tail in colors like the card?!! They were delicious too, especially with the almond flavoring...my favorite! We have traded crafts before and I was amazed at the detail and iridescence that she added to the cookies!

Here's the best part of the challenge: The winner of Time Out's Challenge #264 will win a $25 store credit to their generous Sponsor: Picket Fence Studios!! So think magical and play along with us!

Products I used:

Honey Bee Stamps: Swimming By stamp set

My Favorite Things: Scalloped Rectangle die

Avery Elle: Scalloped Rectangle die

Sugar Pea Designs: Stitched Rectangle die

Flora and Fauna: Shell stamps

Spellbinders:  Whale in a Bottle die set (coral and sea grass dies)

Buttons Galore: Sequin mix

Distress Inks

Handmade waves stencil

Copic Markers

Altenew: Artist Markers

Wink of Stella pen

Acetate

First, I die cut the white scalloped frame 8 times...yes 8, so that I didn't have to use sticky foam tape to make my shaker. I adhered them all together, with a piece of acetate between the last two frames on top.

Next, I cut a piece of thin cardboard by hand on two edges, making wavy shaped edges. I used it as a stencil (like you would for clouds) on a piece of aqua cardstock. 

I stamped and colored my images and fussy cut them. (I stamped, then watercolored the mermaid's tail and top, then fussy cut them and adhered them onto the stamped mermaid.) I added Wink of Stella pen to the scales on the tail and the top for shimmer. I die cut the coral and sea plants from scraps of cardstock.

I assembled everything and tried out the shaker. Last, I stamped my sentiment inside and smeared it...so I cut out the scalloped frame and stamped it again to cover up the boo-boo. (I always mess up a card at THE VERY END!)

Be sure to take time to check out all the inspiration from the Time Out Design team. We will be looking for your magical cards in the gallery! Hope to see you there!

-Carol

Seagull Selfie

My CAS card here comes from the seagull's point of view, including a selfie. All it sees from the sky is beach umbrellas, waves, and those fries. I'm having lots of fun with my Beach Days Stencil and die set, like I warned you I would. This week the Just Us Girls Challenge #728 is Anything Goes with a Stencil, so how could I resist? This is our guest Jenny Martin's last week with us and we sure have enjoyed her pretty cards! Thanks so much Jenny!

I did also use a freebie fries in a fry box die that Waffle Flower sent with my order for these products, an I also used a postage die from their original postal die set.  I popped up three of the stamps on foam tape for dimension.

There are so many ways to change up these products! Every day now I see someone else's clever new use of them!

We hope you will join us using your stencils this week. The team has all sorts of ideas for you to read about on their blogs. Check them out!

See you soon,

Carol

 

Here's the Scoop

This is a birthday card for the Craft Roulette #215 Challenge last night. The parameters were on the easy side this week and it helps to watch Mary Gunn Funn brainstorming ideas for them each week.

Project: Birthday Card

Colors: Petting Zoo

Element: Scoop

Random: Tab(s)

My uses of the parameters are:

Birthday patterned paper and sentiment inside.

Colors of t-shirts on the kids at the petting zoo and/or colorful birds there.

Scoop in the front sentiment meaning "news" and refers to the ice cream.

Green tab to open the card.

Products I used:

Concord and 9th: Love You More Than stamp and die sets

Reverse Confetti: Love and Ice Cream stamp set

Stampin' Up!: Tab punch (old), ink pad

Patterned paper

For Craft Roulette you have from Friday night around 8pm to Sunday midnight to enter your card. It usually takes me one night to think about what I have to make a card with the parameters. You can become a member (paid) and then you get until Thursday night. (More perks that way too.) There are random prize drawings for all to participate in if you enter a card on any week. Lots of fun!

See you back here soon,

Carol

Live Salty

It's my turn to hostess Just Us Girls Challenge #727 and I have chosen a summer moodboard for you this week. I just got these Waffle Flower Beach Day stamp and stencil sets when they released because they were just irresistible! The seagulls at our beaches are no different than any other location. They will snatch food from you if it is out in the open. This one looks cute and innocent, but it wants those french fries! He is a salty one like all the rest! Check out what the team and special guest Jenny Martin have made for your inspiration! 

I am also playing along at Inkspirational Challenges #315 Seasonal: Summer with my beachy postage card.

I used Distress inks and a few colored pencils along with Versafine Onyx black ink. I already had the Waffle Flower postage die. I debated saving this for our next stencil challenge, but I had to play with the set as soon as it came. That doesn't mean you won't see it again in a different way!!

Please join us this week for some summer fun!

-Carol

Alphabet Magnets Day

I am happy to say that I am guest designing twice this month at Time Out Challenges. This first challenge #263 is all about Alphabet Magnet Day. The article (click on link in the previous sentence) says that modern day refrigerator magnet letters are in the form of letter boards. These type of cards came to mind immediately when I saw the challenge. I took a second picture of the white card to show the gold paper better.

The winner of this challenge wins a $15 store credit to Altenew!! Get out those alphabet dies, quick!! Actually, you have from May 9-22, 2024 to play along. The Time Out Team has all kinds of great inspiration for you...go check it out. I like reading how they made their cards and you will too.

Products I used:

Lawn Fawn: Oliver's Stitched ABCs

Ellen Hutson: A2 Piercing plate 2

Picket Fence: Diva Hearts confetti

A purple gem

A variety of cardstock including gold shimmer

Who doesn't have letters or word dies? Join the challenge!!

-Carol

Live Your Life in Color

While stamping at my friend's house, she showed me how to use the BetterPress machine. She made it look so quick and seemingly easy. Next up was the stenciling part, which I loved! I came home to complete the card and to find a sentiment for our Just Us Girls Word Week Challenge #726: Garden.

Products I used:

Spellbinders: Cosmos Backdrop BetterPress and Stencil Bundle, Paint Your World Sentiments Clear stamp set

Sugar Pea Designs: Card Front Element Builder die set

Distress inks

Versafine: Onyx black ink

Gems

Speaking of gardens, our next door neighbor's garden out back is full of pretty flowers on the bushes, some young palm trees and a blue ceramic birdbath. She also has great uplighting in her garden in the evening. We are able to live our life in color now, especially when the sun sets behind this view. (Her garden is near our property line and we can't help but enjoy the pretty view. We have a pool...no garden.)

We hope you will join us for our garden theme this week! 

-Carol

Hello Summer

It's Saturday again and I made my weekly card for this week's Craft Roulette #213. It's a Funn one and not too difficult! The new parameters are:

Project: Hello

Colors: Robust

Element: Workplace

Random: Mixed Media

My use of the parameters is a Hello greeting, bright colors at the beach, a lifeguard's workplace, and my mixed media is the use of vellum in the window while using heavier cardstock for all the other die cuts, along with ink blending distress ink and SU! classic inks.  The bird, lifeguard tower and and sun are popped up on foam tape.

I am also entering my card at #SSSIGChallenge Lots of Layers for May. I count at least 5 here. They are disguised in a CAS card. LOL.

First I did my die cutting and assembling of the lifeguard stand, life preserver and surfboard. Then I ink blended the front of my A2 card base to make a beach scene. I cut a piece of white card stock to be 4" x 5 1/4" and die cut a circle out of it for a window. I attached it to the ink blended card front with foam tape for dimension. I adhered the die cut pieces to the card front. The bird, lifeguard tower and and sun are popped up on foam tape. Last, I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner.

Products I used:

Rubbernecker: Lifeguard Tower die

Spellbinders: Bird die from Build a Summer Birdhouse

My Favorite Things: Cloud dies from Beach Scene Builder, Inside and Out Stitched Circle die, Sunny Days Ahead sentiment stamp

Sizzix: Sun die

Ranger: Distress ink in Antique Linen (sand), Tumbled Glass (blue sky and water), Coastal Cabana (water)

Stampin' Up!: Classic ink pads in Brilliant Blue (sentiment)

Lawn Fawn: White woodgrain cardstock

Aqua vellum (in the window)

Now I'm off to post my card to Craft Roulette and tag the #SSSIGChallenge on Insta!

-Carol

Life's a Beach

Here's my card based on the colors that hostess Bobby chose for our Just Us Girls Challenge #725: peach, lavender and grey. I went beachy, but the team and our special guest Jenny Martin came up with a variety of ideas for you to check out and enjoy. We hope you will join us for this pretty color combination.

Products I used:

Papertrey Ink: Shell dies

Ellen Hutson: Let's Chill stamp set

Quatrefoil cover die: I don't have the packaging anymore, but possibly Papertrey ink

Distress inks

My Favorite Things: Grey ink pad

Gems: Pretty Pink Posh 

I masked off the left side of the card base, then ink blended lightly with purple and orange distress inks in an ombré way. I found the quatrefoil die cut in my stash and cut it to just cover the left side of the card front. (I used the other half on the right edge inside the card.) Next, I die cut my shells and ink blended them. I glued them down with the tops loose for dimension, and popped the scallop shell up on foam tape. Last, I inked up the sentiment and added a few gems.

Play along with us this week!

Carol