Happy Summer

It's Word Week at Just Us Girls #827 and the word Vicki chose is Summer! I couldn't wait to make a card with this happy crab! (Oxymoron?) He is super easy to make and the honeycomb ball makes him even more fun than he already is without it! The team has created a fun mix of card ideas for you, as has Kellianne our June Guest Designer. Be sure to check out all the blogs for the details on their amazing cards!

What I used:

• The Greetery Hey Honeycomb Crab die set, Hey Honeycomb stamp set, Honeycomb Balls Tricolor Tropics
• Spellbinders Rolling Tide stencil set
• Stampin' Up! dot stamp (and oldie), Classic ink pads
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Hero Arts Hero Hues mini ink pads

After die cutting and assembling the smiley crab, I created the background ink blending the sand. I inked up my dot stamp then stamped off on a scrap of paper before stamping on the panel to add a pale brown ink here and there for the sand granules. 

Next, I stenciled the waves in three colors. I spritzed water onto the panel to give a grainy look to the water. I matted the panel with the same red as the crab then stamped the sentiments. Last, I added the completed crab on foam tape to the panel. This is an A2 white card base.

What summer ideas do you have for a card? Can't wait to see the gallery!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Cruisin'

This set of dies that I used for my card below has been waiting for months until there was a reason to use it...and now at Time Out Challenges #315 we have a summery Pick Two theme for you! This red, white, black and gold ship has set sail and I have a wonderful friend closeby who books cruises for our neighborhood, so this is a special card for her. The words for our Pick Two are: Vacation, Summer, Water, Camping, Sun, Ice cream. I chose Vacation, Water and Sun. You must use at least TWO words from the list and if they are not obvious, please explain. 

Our wonderful sponsor, Newton's Nook Designs, is generously offering a $25 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 are joined by Sherri Schmidt, winner of Time Out #310, as Guest Designer. Sherri is a talented card maker and a frequent player at Time Out. She posts her work on Flickr as Sherrisonline. Even if you are not a Flickr member, you can still view her gallery. Sherri's designs are fun and her style is eclectic. Do treat yourself to a stroll through her gallery for some great inspiration. 

What I used:

• Spellbinders Deckside Dreams die set, Build a Summer Birdhouse die (anchor)
• The Greetery Postage die
• Gold card stock
• Vellum (smoke)

Come play along with your summer stash and be sure to visit the team's and Sherri's blogs for all the details about their fun cards! We also enjoy reading about yours, too.

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol 

Birthday Fishes

I'm playing with the new Greetery Honeycomb release and this time I made a mini card with the Hey Honeycomb Fish! I also made a small gift bag to attach my little card to the front. I could have made it a tag, but I wanted to try a card that stays with the bag permanently.

I'm playing along at the Inspired By Challenge IB391 with their Fish theme. My fish is swimming amongst the "bubbles" on the bag and the handle of the bag looks like mermaid or fish scales. I chose my colors not from the photo, but from the honeycomb ball.

What I used:

• The Greetery Hey Honeycomb Fish die set, Hey Honeycomb Summer Sentiments stamp set, Honeycomb Balls Tricolor Tropics

• Stampin' Up! Mini Treat Bag Thinlits die set (old), Turquoise sequin trim, Designer Series paper (old)

• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad 

The fish is so easy to die cut and assemble. Then I folded a piece of green card stock in half to make a mini card, and placed the fish die a little above the fold. I ran it through my die cut machine a few times until it cut through the front and back of the little card. Then I adhered the decorated fish to the card front.

I created the bag and used the sequin trim as handles. I popped up the fish on foam tape after stamping the sentiment inside.

This was a fun project. I've had this patterned paper forever and have used it for summer/water cards and projects often. Since I made a mini card I didn't make the honeycomb collapsible...it is permanently open.

Hope your summer is going swimmingly!

Carol

You Brighten My Life

It is Die Week at Just Us Girls #826 and our sweet hostess Carol Mayne asks that we use butterfly dies. I have never had butterfly dies before a few months ago. Check out the team's pretty cards and see what you are inspired by to make a card for our challenge!

What I used:

• Waffle Flower Mix n' Match Butterflies dies
• MFT sentiment
• Distress Oxide inks
• Stampin' Up! Blended Bloom stamp, Aqua painter
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

I saw a few CAS cards like this on Pinterest and made my own version. I started by stamping the flowers in opposite corners on the card front. The butterflies were die cut from watercolor paper that I had painted first with oxide inks. I only attached the butterflies to the card in the middle so their wings could be bent outward to look like they are fluttering. Happily, I was able to bend my clear stamp into the shape I need to fit it in between the butterflies. And that's it!

Come play along with us using butterfly dies!

Carol