CAS-ual Fridays: on cloud 9

I haven't played along with CAS-ual Fridays in forever... this week's challenge is to feature things you'd see in the sky:

I used the PTI polaroid frame and some Basic Grey "what's up" papers.

For my PTI princess group:  I also made this card for our challenge.  I'm asking you to think back to the first stamp set you purchased with PTI (that you still own, obviously!) and pair it with something from your most recent order.  I used a sentiment from Up, up & Away (my first PTI set) and paired it with the new polaroid frame die.

For Denise and Audrey - how'd you like me now?  Buttons AND washi tape.  I will hoard no more!

Have a great Sunday!

hello, hello!

It's an even slower pace at home with the hubs around this week.  The kids are enjoying the breakfast cookies we've just whipped up together, and playing a round of UNO at the same time....

I thought I'd pop in with another card that hasn't been blog-featured yet.

This card is a nod to my blogging buddy, Wida.  I loved her sewn-garland-on-a-card, and thought I'd create my own.  

The "hello" banners are courtesy of Pebbles, and grabbed from my Gallery Idol prize box, stamped in yummy Hero Arts inks - also new to me.

As a finishing touch, I stamped a cloud background in fresh snow ink onto my card-base, and then again in aqua mist ink onto a scrap of white cardstock (and stamped sometimes without re-inking for some color gradation).  I snipped around my clouds and created a funky little border.  You like?  I think it's a fun way to stretch your stamps.

Until next time...

life is an adventure...

One of my favorite things to do is take an interesting print and re-create it using my stamps and ink....

I was inspired by this print (and the quote):

to create this card (and give some love to an older PTI set that hasn't seen ink for quite a while in the process...):

I started out by printing the Helen Keller quote on a sheet of white cardstock.  Then, I stamped the 2 hot-air balloons (masking the first one so it looks like it's in the foreground).  The second balloon was also masked, and I stamped the entire mat with yellow chevrons and a grey sunburst pattern.  (The grey "sunburst" is actually an image from the Wplus9 "super star" set, which I stamped 2x to make the full circle).

The hot air balloons were colored in with copics, and I glazed the larger balloon with a layer of glossy accents.  I wanted it to stand out from the other one, but didn't want to add bulk to the card with foam squares... sometimes, a little dimension goes a long way, no?

Thanks for peeking!

no-bunny, no-eggy easter cards...

When a nice lady from church says: "I heard you make nice cards.  Will you make my a few Easter ones to give out to my friends?" you say yes, and ask questions later.  Now, it makes total sense that she wouldn't want Easter cards with bunnies or easter eggs on them, but that's all I seem to own.  Oh dear.

I found this card of Ashley's and thought it would translate to a nice Easter card:

I'm still working through the "my mind's eye" christmas papers that I've got - I'm determined to use them all before next Christmas :)  The sheet music background worked perfectly for this card.

And Betsy made a beautiful card in the latest Papercrafts magazine that I couldn't help but CASE.  I computer-generated the greeting, and used "distressed stripes" to create the multi-colored sun-rays...

I'm also entering this card into the latest Papertrey Princess challenge: to use the negative of a die-cut.  I'm technically using the positive and negatives together, so I hope it still counts!

Thanks for peeking!

PTI anniversary, day 6: sketch challenge.

** there's a giveaway happening over here!**

I can't resist a sketch challenge, even on days where I have a playdate scheduled :)  In between slicing strawberries and running a quick vaccuum for my mommy-buddy, I managed to create a little something for today's festivities...

I used the sketch as an excuse to break out my "banner builder" set... it's been sorely neglected...

Sorry for the photos - they don't show off my stamped background, and the overall color is a bit off...

 But everything comes together more quickly with a sketch challenge :)

Happy friday, all!

there's no place like home...

Are you clicking your glittery red shoes together?

This week's MIM challenge was to paint with white ink.  I stamped the house from "boards and beams" onto craft paper, and colored the roof, door, and shutters before taking an aquapainter (a paintbrush with water built into the barrel) and painting the main part of the house white.

If you look closely, can you see that I masked all the windows and stamped a woodgrain pattern over the white ink?  I really did!  It's so faint in the picture...

I also did a bit of layering with the clouds, stamping the notebook lines from "it's official" on top of the white clouds.  I like the subtle texture it gives!  My sentiment was stamped into a label basic shape and stapled to the side.

Thanks for looking!

window card, camp-style

I'm taking another stab at the camp colors of the week and making a window card. Jennifer shared some tips & tricks for creating a window card with our steel dies.  So fun!

I used my mat stack 5 die to cut into my card front, and created a frame for it using SU's peach parfait card-stock.  The clouds and kites are from PTI's up up & away set, and the sentiment from think big favorites. I'm loving this card!  The summery colors and the acetate window are so fun!

Here's a close-up so you can see the "floating" greeting. I used part of the clear box that PTI stamps come in and stamped on it with staz-on ink (the acetate is slippery so staz-on is necessary!).

Hope you like it!

MIM - reverse masking

I love this week's technique!  Masking, and reverse masking are the most fun and versatile techniques, in my humble crafty opinion.  Here, I used reverse masking to create those soft, billowy clouds.  I die-cut the clouds onto a post-it note, and used the negative space to sponge in bashful blue ink, as well as SU's "A to Z" stamp.

I know a slew of mommies-to-be expecting little boys - I'm a-thinkin' this card will serve me well in the next few months :)

Thanks for looking!