Citrus in the Sunshine

I have lived in two states where citrus grows abundantly in all of the sunshine, and I love the flavors and aromas of oranges, lemons and limes. I like to make cards with them too! When I saw the Inkspirational Challenges #343 Moodboard I thought of a card to make by taking the pretty orange and green colors.

Products I used:

Simon Says Stamp - Citrus Slice Background die, Circle die, Holographic sequins

Waffle Flower - Overlapping Hello Additions stamp and die sets

Altenew - Obsidian black ink pad

Distress ink pads

Stampin' Up! - embossing folder (resembles the citrus slices)

Bearly Arts glue

Scrapbooking.com - Tear Tape

Acetate

After watching this video by Allison Frazier I was really inspired to try my hand at some sort of "other" use of the Citrus die like she had done. She had so many ideas! I love acetate on the front of cards, so that's what I made.

First I cut a white panel with the citrus die. I used it as a stencil on another white panel, then cut another citrus one. I used one small circle die and cut each citrus slice from the second citrus panel. (Are you confused yet?)

I put the stenciled panel on my desk, then the acetate, then put the corresponding slices over each stenciled citrus slice where they belonged. I glued the slices to the acetate with Bearly Arts glue and let them dry overnight.

The next day I attached the acetate to the stenciled panel at the top with tear tape. 

Last, I added my stamped and die cut sentiment to an ink blended, dry embossed strip I found in my stash, and added a few sequins. I attached this strip to the card front and was done!

It was fun and I resumed normal breathing when it was complete and my idea worked.

***Speaking of citrus fruits, here is a DE-licious recipe from Giada De Laurentis for Toasted Pound Cake with Citrus Cream. The three fruits that inspired my card are in the citrus cream. The recipe is easy too! You'll only be sorry if you don't try it.***

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Sailboat in a Bottle

A message in a bottle is something you might find one day on the beach. I recently saw a video (which could have been staged) of a bottle being opened on the beach that had a paper inside. As a child I was fascinated by the model ships that were inside a bottle, wondering how they were built...could the bottle have been blown around  the ship? Check out what I found today here! What an incredible art!

Our Just Us Girls Challenge #780 is a beautiful moodboard chosen by Vicki. I went with the sea and the colors under, in and around it in the photo. Be sure to check out all of the team's cards, as well as that of our guest Joanne, for all the details on their  wonderful cards. 

I made a shaped card but decided it popped more on a red card base. You can see in the photo that the bottle will still open on top of the red card base. The white wave you see divides what is seen above the water from the underwater scene. The tag gives the person who finds the bottle a little message.

Everything I used to make the card is Spellbinders except the sailboat which I  think is My Favorite Things from long ago. Oh, the sticky backed cork is from Canvas Home Basics and I have had it forever, using small pieces here and there.

Thanks so much for stopping by and we look forward to seeing you in our gallery!

Carol

Sun Sand Surf

Recently I CASEd my own card that I made a few months ago, but changed the colors to a coral peachy pink and orange. The monstera leaf is a heart shape with its unique cut edges. The Time Out Photo Inspiration Challenge #291 heart photo has a heart-shaped beachy feel and that's how my card was inspired. 

Products I used -

Sizzix: Bigz Tropical Leaf die, Vacation thinlits dies

Simon Says Stamp: Holographic sequins mix

Stampin' Up!: Embossing folder

The Crafter's Workshop: Sea Creatures 12" x 12" stencil

Ranger: Distress and Distress Oxide ink pads

Gold card stock

The pattern on the monstera leaf comes from the scallop shell on the large 12" x 12" stencil. I My words are die cut, letters removed, fussy cut around the words to leave a white border. I backed the words with gold card stock scraps. The embossing folder gives a textured "floral"  pattern to the background I think.

Our wonderful sponsor, Frantic Stamper, is generously offering a $20.00 Store Credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We hope you will join us for this beachy-feel (or whatever you are inspired by) photo. You could also use buttons, flowers or other shapes to make your card!

See you in the gallery!

Carol

CASE It Instagram Hop for June

It's time for our monthly CASE It Instagram Hop for June! I saw the new Waffle Flower summer products the week they came out and thought that the pirate seagull made by Galina Filippenko was sooo cute!!! That is what I am CASEing. I took her idea of the pirate seagull with its map, looking for treasure. So, having only the Inquisitive Seagull die and the Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set, I got to work.

My card

Galina's card

I found a free Printable Map on Pinterest and made a few copies. I fussy cut and colored it with colored pencils and markers. Then I cut my own eye patch out of black card stock. I stamped "Mine" and cut it out as a thought bubble, along with two smaller dots using hand held punches to go with my sentiment. (He is claiming the treasure even before finding it.) I framed the scene with a black border and attached my finished panel to an A2 card base. If you look at the map, he is close to the spot where the treasure is marked!

Products I used:

Waffle Flower - Inquisitive Seagull dies, Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set, Nesting Rectangle Frames die set

La-La Land Crafts - Summer Vacation Designer Paper Pack

Altenew - Obsidian black ink pad

We hope you will enjoy our Instagram CASE It Instagram Hop this month. There are lots of fun cards and ideas! To find all the details you can start by going to my Instagram account at @sawithadtomakeit, then hopping down the list.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol

Sixty is Glitzy

Our sweet teammate Carol has come up with a fun challenge for Just Us Girls #779 for Word Week: Number. Use some sort of a number on your card. It could mean number of years old, anniversaries, a year, a date, etc. The design team has come up with a good variety of ideas for your inspiration. For fun, I went with a rhyming phrase for one of the birthdays that end in a zero.

Products I used:

Simon Says Stamp - Monstera stencil set

Alex Syberia - Foxtrot Alphabet die set

The Greetery - Postal Frames rectangle die

Distress Oxide ink pad

Distress ink pad

Silver and white glitter card stocks

Rhinestones

My card has a "glitzy" white glitter background and silver glitter letters for the sentiment and I added a few rhinestones for even more sparkle. To keep with the festive feel, I used bright, happy, pink inks for the monstera leaf. Don't you think the post office should make some cheerful stamps this summer with elements of the season?

So, make a card for someone that has a number on it for our challenge and we will see you in the gallery!

Carol

Happiness Comes in Waves

Continuing summer mode card making, I made a two cards for today using the same products plus some older hibiscus dies. Our Just Us Girls Challenge #778 Die Week is specifically layers. Sweet Ina asks that we use dies to make layers on the card. 

For both cards I started by ink blending my background, then stamping the tropical silhouette images. I used a cloud die for the black framed one and cut a wavy stencil for the water.

Starting with the white framed card, I die cut the collage frame and decided that two of them glued together would make the frame stand out better over the background. Then I adhered the frame/background piece to the A2 card base.

Next, I die cut and assembled the flowers and leaves, then arranged them on the collage frame. I popped some of the flowers up on foam tape for depth. I finished the card with a few sequins to match the flowers. I count five or six layers with the pieces that are added to the hibiscus for detail.

For the black silhouette card I added sunglasses like a card I saw here on Pinterest. My sunglasses card has four layers.

We hope you will sharing some layered cards with us this week. The team and our special guest Joanne James have given you lots of inspiration. Be sure to visit their blogs for inspiration.

Products I used:

Waffle Flower - Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set, Postage Collage Tropical Sunset dies, Postage collage Collage Bocks die

Altenew - 3D Hibiscus die set

Papertrey Ink - Beach Bag dies (sunglasses)

Ranger - Distress Oxide ink pads

Thanks for stopping by and checking in!

Carol

Happy Retirement!

I am definitely in summer mode with my cardmaking now and have been waiting for a challenge to fit this die set that is NBUS. Also...there is a person close to me who is about to retire and I needed a special card for the occasion. Our latest Time Out Challenge #290 is Pick Two: Recycle, Repeat, Ribbon, Bold, Weather, Place. You must use at least two of these in your design, but you can also use more than that. I used Repeat, Bold, Weather and Place. I have two trees and two pillows, the colors are bold, and the weather is good at the beach.

Products I used:

Honey Bee Stamps - Hammock die set

My Favorite Things - Life's a Beach stamp set

Ranger - Distress Oxide ink pads

Altenew - Obsidian Black ink pad

I started by watercoloring on a sheet of watercolor paper.  I created different sections in each color I needed for the palm leaves, the pillows, the hammock, etc. After it all dried, I die cut the elements from their corresponding colors. The trees have lots of palm fronds that give a nice texture and real-feel to them.

Next, I assembled the trees, hammock and pillows, then ink blended the background on the front of a white A2 card base. I was going to spatter some water on the background so I ink blended a bit roughly, then decided to leave it alone and not risk ruining the card with bad spattering. Last, I adhered all the elements of the beach scene and stamped the sentiment. 

We hope you will join us for our Pick Two challenge. Make sure to visit the team's blogs to see how they were inspired and also our guest Jaydee of Stampin' with Jaydee.

We are sponsored by our own Design Team Member Kate Lesh with this Sizzix Thinlets Die Set 664379, Garden Shed by Sophie Guilar as the prize for this challenge.

Be sure to join us...you can choose two or more of the words/concepts to make your card. Can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

Carol

Hello Summer

I save mail and wrapping paper that can be recycled later into a card design. I have many Tommy Bahama envelopes and cards because they have beautiful florals on them. This card is a fussy cut project from a TB gift card. I am playing along with Freshly Made Sketches square card sketch and The Paper Players Recycling is In! 

Products I used:

Tommy Bahama card florals, fussy cut

Simon Says Stamp - Script Hello die

Sizzix - Vacation Words Block dies

This is a clean and simple CAS card. I decided to pop up the fussy cut flowers to look like they are hanging from an arbor. The green enamel dots add a little sparkle and shine in addition to the happy sentiment. That's it!

Happy summer to all!

Carol