TIME OUT #86 - CELEBRATIONS

It's time for a theme challenge and we are looking for Celebration themed cards with an optional twist of keeping it one layer. As an added incentive for keeping it one-layer, our fabulous sponsor, CAS-ual Fridays, is offering a $25 gift voucher to a random entry that uses the optional twist!!!

Our guest designer for this challenge is the incredible Tae-Eun - I am sure you are already familiar with her wonderful CAS card designs but make sure to visit her blog to check out her take on this challenge :)

Here is my take on the challenge - a bright celebratory rainbow:

This card is all about this wonderful sentiment stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays - I couldn't chose just one sentiment to use - so I decided to use them all :)  I actually made this a mass card production (you can never have too many Birthday cards) so I lined the stamps up in my MISTI and stamped them on 6 different colours of cardstock in Versamark so that I could heat emboss them in white. I then used my trimmer to cut apart the greetings before mixing and matching them on 6 different card bases. Some of them, I adhered directly to the card base (above), and some of them I adhered with foam tape to add some dimension (below). I had planned on making a similar card with the optional one-layer twist by inking the stripes on the card base and then adding the white heat embossing but I ran out of time..... so no twisting from me this week..

How are you going to interpret this theme? We can't wait to see your creations so make sure you take the TIME OUT to play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

ATCAS Guest Designer - Cheers!

I am thrilled and so honoured to be Guest Designing at Addicted To CAS today - I was asked to play along based on this card from the Pink challenge a couple of weeks back.

The cue card for this week's challenge?

And here is my take on the cue card:

For some reason, I seem to have a lot wine themed stamps in my stash ;) but I chose this older MFT one for my card. I kept it really simple by stamping the image and the greeting in SSS Intense Black ink, and I coloured the image using Copics. I added some sparkle to the champagne with my Sakura glitter pen - including some extra bubbles. I also added a layer of Glossy Accents to the glass to intensify the sparkle. I finished off the card with two types of washi tape along the bottom of the card, and a thin strip of black card stock to finish it off.

Thanks again to the wonderful DT at Addicted to CAS for having me along today and I hope that you will join us for this fun challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jill

TIME OUT#85 - Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration

The challenge this fortnight at TIME OUT is a photo inspiration challenge - check out this fabulous tropical-themed Home Sweet Home picture:

Our guest Designer this week is Ashwini from Experiments with Card Making Etc  - her designs are always so creative so make to check them out. 

We are also sponsored by Happy Little Stampers - who are offering a $15 gift voucher to the winner!!

Here is my card:

I kept things really simple - masked the edges of a piece of Tim Holtz watercolour paper, and then clear embossed the flowers using a Stamplorations stencil. I used some Brushos and water to paint the open space, and then I ironed off the embossing powder -I actually used my Minc machine which works beautifully for it :)  I adhered the panel to a top folding card base and added a white embossed W Plus 9 sentiment and some green gems from my stash. When I looked at the picture after I finished card, I realized there really isn't too much green in it - so I would have to say that I was more inspired by the "tropical vibe" of the picture rather than any particular element. I can't wait to see how this picture inspires others - so make sure you take some Time Out to play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jill

TIME OUT #84 - Inspired By Words

This week at TIME OUT, we have a challenge where we are asking you to be inspired by the following words:

'Flowers and Friends make life a garden'

We are very lucky to have Michele with us as our Guest Designer -- I am sure you are already familiar with Michele and her stunning cards - her blog I Card Everyone is a

showcase of beautiful and really creative designs.

Here is how I was inspired by the words:

I started out by applying some white embossing paste through a Forileges Design stencil to add some texture to the background. I then added the frame (die cut with some circle dies) with some foam tape before adding the Copic coloured flowers and W Plus 9 Sending die cut. The flower is from Stamplorations - a set called Bloom Sketches - I don't know what kind of flower it is so there is a pretty good chance that it shouldn't be blue....  If you like the stamp,  Stamplorations is offering a gift voucher to their store for the winner of the challenge :)   - another great reason to join the fun and play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

Butterflies and Skyscrapers

A few cards to share today....

The first one is all about pink butterflies. I used the Memory Box Butterfly Heart die - it doesn't cut the butterflies out completely, just their wings. I carefully coloured each of the butterflies with Copics and Wink of Stella for some sparkle. I kept the rest of the card simple with a  Unity Stamp Company greeting

The next couple of cards were all about playing :) I used a TCW stencil that has 2 parts - the solid image and the outline image. I started by blending some Distress Oxide inks in the solid stencil. I then used some Viva black modelling paste through the outline stencil to finish the image. I absolutely love how these turned out in real life (I can't capture the gloss and texture of the paste on camera). I kept the rest of the cards quite simple - black and white with some silver glitter accents.

I will link up to the following challenges:

• Memory Box Challenge - using markers
• Addicted to CAS - Pink
• The Paper Players - CAS Butterflies
• The Curtain Call - Frosting Inspired Challenge (I think the butterflies look like the cupcakes in the picture with the dimension)
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Little Sparkle
• Inkspirational - Urban

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

Distress Ink Smooshing

I was playing around with some Distress Ink smooshing and have a couple of quick cards to share:

This first card, I made with the Merry Monday colour challenge in mind - I used Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet. The tree die is from Ellen Hutson - and I used the same ink colours on the geometric pieces before layering them on top. The greeting is from MFT and is silver heat embossed - and I added a Tim Holtz mirror star to finish it off. I made another version of the card with some silver splatters in the background instead of the Distress smooshing:

I made the second card with the current Inkspirational challenge in mind. I started by stamping a map onto watercolour cardstock in Archival grey ink before adding the smooshing Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, and Mustard Seed inks to the "urban" area of the map. I sprayed some old Studio Calico Mistables with some like-coloured Dylusions sprays, and added a white embossed Studio Calico greeting and a few Freckled Fawn hearts to complete the card.

I will link to the following challenges:

• Merry Monday - Turquoise Blue, Green and Purple
• Less Is More - Geometric
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- A Bit Of Sparkle (silver splatter, shimmer spray on tree, shiny star)
• Inkspirational - Urban
• CAS Mix Up Challenge - Splattering, Stamping, Heat Embossing, Die Ctting

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

Sparkle and Shine

Today, I am sharing a few of the cards that I made for the most recent Online Card Class - Sparkle and Shine. I loved the class - not surprising since I love sparkly and shiny techniques :) The lessons inspired me to dig out my supplies and play - here are some of the creations:

Day 1:Glitter
For the inlaid glitter technique, I used my Memory Box Dancing Snowflakes die as well as a Taylored Expressions Noel die to create the silhouettes. I added three shades of glitter in an ombre effect over the Be Creative tape (Glitter Ritz - Deep Purple; Glitter Ritz - Canadian Blue; Elizabeth Crafts - Bluebell). I absolutely love the finished card - this may just become my mass-produced Christmas card this year :)

Day 2: Foiling
For my foiling card, I combined ideas from a couple of the videos to create my card. I used a Power Poppy digital stamp and foiled it in gold onto some smooth Bristol card stock so that I could water colour it using my Zig markers. The foil is hard to capture with my camera but it really shines in real life when the light catches it. I finished the card by creating an aperture with a Simon Says Stamp stitched oval die and adding a Concord & 9th Hugs gold foil die cut.

Day 3:Shimmer, Pearl and Flakes
I love gilding flake mixes - but I don't use them very often so I definitely took this as an opportunity to play with them. I did the inlaid flakes technique that Jennifer demonstrated. The background die I used is from Lil Inkers (love it!) - and I used three different flake mixes for the inlay. It is hard to see the difference between them since they all have a lot of gold (maybe I need to buy more so that I have some different colours!) but I love the effect anyways. The card reminds of falling leaves in Autumn so I probably should have gone with a thanks greeting but I used a Winnie and Walter die cut hello over a vellum strip instead.

Day 6: Embossing Powder
I used Julie's technique on this card - with the Ranger Sticky Stuff and some Glitter Ritz Cool Highlight glitter. The snowflake is layered stamping (from the The Ton)  which is hard to see through the glitter and the greeting is from Simon Says Stamp. Even though I loved the technique, I wasn't entirely happy with the card so I tried to save it by completely over embellishing with sequins :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Jill