CAS3 Day 4

We're at Day 4 in Clean & Simple 3 Online Card Class and tutorials today gave additional inspiration to what we learned in Day 3. Most of the focus is on Optical Illusion, which has been a challenge for me. This card took me 3 tries to get it somewhat acceptable for the blog! This appears to be a bit of a boring card to me. I might go back and add some bling, but that would make it less than one layer.

I think it could've used more stamping up around the dog, but that's about all I had that's the right size to appear to be far away. Most of my stamps are around the same size -- and a lot bigger than that little doggie! I tied the balloons around his neck for fun.

My coloring leaves a lot to be desired today--please accept my apologies! I had a spinal epidural this morning for a herniated disc and the medicine has left me quite shaky. I'll be better in a day or two, and the best change of all will be less back pain! Thanks for your patience.

Can't wait for tomorrow's class to see what we'll learn next. I'm never disappointed with these Online Card Classes.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visits and your comments very much. Take it easy!

CAS3 Day 3

Okay, I know. Third card today? Yep, I'm playing catch-up from the few days my camera wasn't working right. I don't like being behind!

This card followed the video on Stamp Layering by Laura Bassen. She's got a great sense of humor and kept my attention throughout the entire lesson.

First, using All-Night Media's Splatter Pattern stamp, I put tiny splatters of dots all over my page with Hero Art's Soft Sand Shadow Ink. With Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life stamps, I added circle images in various colors around the card base. Finally, I added the sentiment at an angle.

This was a quick and easy card to make. I will keep practicing and will probably add more cards tomorrow.

I appreciate your visit and your comments very much! Please come back again soon!

CAS3 Day 2

This post reflects lessons learned on the Day 2 of Clean and Simple 3, One Layer Cards Online Card Class. This day we had a second part to what we learned on Day 1. I chose to try a card based on Heather Campbell's tutorial for Faux Layered Die Cuts. This one wasn't easy (quite challenging, in fact!) but I stuck with it until I got to a result I was happy with. This is my favorite card, so far!

For this card, I dug into my well-organized, color-coded scraps again and quickly found what I needed to die cut the shapes I was looking for. My die is My Favorite Thing's Die-Namics Triangles, and the set has large as well as small triangles. I only needed the small ones for this card.

Before die cutting, I layered the triangles in a way I was happy with and taped them together to hold their place. I had two that were inset, and THAT took some trial and error to accomplish a good cut.

First, I cut the shape of the entire group of triangles out of yellow cardstock. Then, still holding the multiple triangles together with tape, I die cut more of them out of various colors of cardstock and fit them together without using the same color twice. This was like putting together a puzzle. Once I got the hang of it, I liked it.I paper-pieced the cut triangles into the blank space in the yellow cardstock until I had a good, even fit.

For the sentiment, I stamped HAPPY from a stamp set by Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life and die cut the yellow cardstock with BIRTHDAY, using Papertrey Ink's Birthday dies. This left a place to fit the BIRTHDAY letters.

That done, I had a pretty good one-layer card...BUT, I had blue ink on my fingers and it smudged on part of the die cut, so I cut it again using white cardstock and layered it onto the yellow BIRTHDAY letters. Fitting in all those little pieces in the B, R and D, not to mention the tinier ones between the letters, was a HUGE challenge. Keeping track of them and then getting them glued into the right space wasn't easy, either...but I DID IT, and for that, I am one HAPPY gal!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your visits and comments very much. If you're in the class, it's good to see you again! If not, please keep coming back, because there are plenty more crafting days ahead!

Clean and Simple 3: One Layer Cards Day 1

Hello, Hello, Hello! I'm so excited -- this is the first of many posts from another class I am taking, Clean and Simple 3: One Layer Cards.

Thankfully, I organized my scraps before class began, because I am using them, DAILY! It feels so good to know right where to go to get small bits of of paper, now organized by color. What a difference a little organization makes! I used several scraps for my first card.

I lined up the scraps on a piece of paper and glued them down with my ATG gun. Then, I die cut the scraps using Spellbinder's Wonderful Wings Grand Shapabilities die. I die cut the same butterfly from a piece of white cardstock cut about 5-1/4 by 4 and fit the colorful butterfly made of scraps inside. Then, I layered the whole piece onto my Kraft cardstock. Finally, I inked and stamped various circles using VersaMark onto the butterfly and then re-stamped, just slightly offset, with Memories Unicorn (White) Pigment Ink. This was supposed to make the circles appear to be a separate layer, as if they were coming toward you, up off the page.

I added a strip across the bottom of leftover scraps I had glued together and added a sentiment from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life.

The technique is called Faux Letterpress, and the class video was by Shari Carroll, a wonderful artist and teacher. I hope I got the right effect (affect?). Feel free to share your thoughts!


Thanks for stopping by today. I will have two more posts for the next two classes (I'm playing catch-up since my camera wasn't cooperating for a couple of days.) Your visits and comments mean the world to me -- we can always learn from each other! Have a good day!

Tiles

Hello! Here's a card I created using a technique to create the look of tile. Gina K (of Gina K Designs) had a video that showed step-by-step instructions. All you need is a score board to use with your cardstock, and you simply mark lines every half inch, going both directions on your paper. To help it show up, you lightly sponge ink around the edges and toward the center. That's it! I like that kind of lesson--easy! The stamp, the patterned paper and the cardstock are all from Gina K Designs.

This was for another challenge that gives us the opportunity to win a spot as Guest Designer at Gina K Designs. There will soon be another challenge to enter before knowing who wins the spot...so exciting! Even if I don't win, it's fun to participate. It keeps me striving to do better with each card I create.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your comments and your visits very much. Have a good weekend!

WOWW 218

GUESS WHAT??????????? It's time for Stamping Ground's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again! WooHoo! And I didn't even clean it off from last week--YIKES! Fortunately, I do have a different card front & center, which means some of the stuff around it is a bit different, too.

 I just posted the card, which is called Peach Butterfly and is for Curtain Call's Perfectly Peach challenge. I love peach--everything peach! That includes the fruit, too. Anyway, it was hard to come up with that card because I hardly had anything peach color for some reason.

 I found a couple sheets of paper that were peach and another that had peach in it, along with one peach ("cantaloupe") ink pad, so that's what I used. The brown ink pad is out because that color was stamped for the sentiment. The ink pads in the plastic box are what I have from Stampin Up--I found a peach pad in there, too. You can see the paper for the card came from The Mariposa Mat Stack, which is right beside the card. I also just loaded up my other ATG gun and began using it since it has a more narrow adhesive roll. (The yellow ATG gun uses a wider adhesive roll, which is what you've seen on my desk previously.) Both fit into my neat ATG gun box my friend built for me. I'll say it again...what a dear friend!

My stamping blocks are still on the desk, to the far left. You can hardly see them. Yes, they are still stacked! I stack them every time I finish using them. Now, if I'd just figure out what to do with all that scrap paper I'd really have a neat desk! What do you gals do with it? I have two boxes loaded with scraps, but I'm not sure what to do with most of the small pieces. I use them just as much as the larger pieces but I haven't figured out a good place to keep them. Organizing them by color would be a great idea, but after that, I'm stumped. Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions. I'd appreciate it!

Hope you're having a Wonderful Wednesday! It's a cold day here in North Carolina, but better days are coming. So glad March has arrived!

I appreciate your visits and your comments very much. Thanks for stopping by!

Peach Butterfly

I have created a card for Curtain Call's Perfectly Peach challenge. Believe me, it was a challenge! I had one peach ink pad and only a couple sheets of paper with peach in them! That's a little strange, because peach is one of my favorite colors.

As difficult as it was to find the correct colors, this has to be one of my favorite cards. Peach is such a beautiful color!

I used Spellbinders Fancy Tags for the sentiment, which came from Gina K Designs Organize It stamp set. I inked a little peach color around the edges of the die before popping it out and intertwining ribbon throughout. The paper came from The Mariposa Mat Stack, and the butterfly was created using Spellbinders Wonderful Wings Grand Shapabilities. I found a few peach-colored stars in my stash to put around the card, and I put one white sequin in the center of the butterfly.

Your visits and comments mean the world to me. I appreciate you stopping by today and hope you like the card as much as I do!

Spring

Good evening! I created this card today for the Mod Squad Challenge, which says we are to come up with something that reminds us of Spring. I thought the colors would be appropriate with the chicks and the Easter eggs. The image is from Basket Blessings created by Melanie Muenchinger at Gina K Designs. It's full of bunnies, eggs, flowers and stuffed animals--lots of fun! I stamped extra eggs, colored them, cut them all out and then placed them behind the chicks. I also placed a thin piece of ribbon across the trim on the basket. The background was embossed and a flower was cut out, colored and placed on the card next to the sentiment, which is perfect for a Springtime card!

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visit and comments very much. See you again soon!