CCEE1843 True One-Layer Only

Joanne finishes up her month as hostess of the CCEE Stampers challenges by asking us to make a true one-layer card -- no layers, no pop-ups, no embellishments.  This is not my usual style of cards, but I'm always open to a challenge.  I do like masking and sponging, so that's what I did for this Thanksgiving card.  After taping some removable tape around the edges of the card, I sponged on some Ranger Distress Antique Linen ink and stamped the leaf down the side in three different colors.  It's one-layer but gives the impression of some dimension.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more one-layer creations.

Scor-Pal "More Than One Score" -- Clean and Simple

My card for the September Scor-Pal Clean and Simple Challenge is a bit more than one-layer, which is what I usually think of when "clean and simple" is mentioned.

I stamped an old image that I've had for many years in the bottom corner, balancing it with the simple "thinking of you" sentiment at the top.  Whenever I see pansies, I always think of my grandmother, who had lots of pansies in her garden.  So this card was made with lots of love.

After coloring the flowers in shades of yellow and purple, I scored the crosslines using my Scor-Pal, then mounted the panel on a purple piece of cardstock, and finally on the yellow card base.  I always need "thinking of you" cards for my church card ministry -- another one into the stash!

Check out the Scor-Pal Blog for some more ideas for Clean and Simple.

CCEE1828 - National Simplicity Day

Lynn continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week, telling us that today is National Simplicity Day, in honor of Henry David Thoreau, who was a devoted advocate of living a life of simplicity.  So on this lazy day of summer, her challenge to us was to create a clean and simple one-layer card.

Some time ago I bought a set of stamps inspired by the "simple" thoughts of kids.  I used one of them on my card today.  What is better than a friend with chocolate?

Check out the rest of the simple cards created by the rest of the CCEE Stampers team over on the blog.

Hello, Fishies!

Clean-and-simple cards are not my usual style, but every once in a while I go outside my comfort zone.  Today is one of those days.  CottageCutz has a new line of Expressions Plus dies, which are very nice, script words.  My CAS card today has one of them.

Supplies used on this card are:

Heavyweight white cardstock 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4"

Lightweight white cardstock for masking

Scraps of orange and blue cardstock for fish and sentiment

Sponge daubers

Fine-tip glue dispenser

Black marker

Foam pop dots

Ranger Distress ink - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Spiced Marmalade

CottageCutz dies - Hello (phrase), Happy Fish 1, Happy Fish 2, Double-Stitched Circle Set

Janet, the video artist for the CottageCutz design team, has created a U-Tube video showcasing some of the other Expressions Plus dies.

I cut and scored my heavyweight white cardstock and centered the mask piece slightly below center.  This mask was actually the negative piece left from when I had cut a circle for a previous card.  I anchored it with a couple of Post-It notes and then sponged on  the Tumbled Glass ink using a sponge dauber.

Using the same sponge dauber, I added some areas of Salty Ocean ink to give some depth to the water area.  As you can see in the photo, after inking up the dauber I sponged off a bit of the color onto the Post-It note.  Better to have to add color to the circle area than to try to remove it!

Then I cut my fish and sentiment from the scraps of orange and blue cardstock.

Once again using the sponge daubers, I added some texture to the two fish around their fins and gills.

Using the fine-tip glue applicator, I carefully added glue to the back of the sentiment.

Similarly, I added glue to the back of the blue fish.  I also adhered a small foam pop-dot on the back one of the fins. 

I repeated the process on the orange fish and adhered both of the fish and the sentiment to the card.  I added a few drops of glue to make the bubbles coming from their mouths and drew in their eyes with a black marker.

This close up shows how the fins with the foam dots stand out from the card.

Here again is my card, which I thoroughly enjoyed creating!

CottageCutz dies used on this card are;

I would invite you to step outside your comfort zone and create a different type of card today.

CCEE1719 - Wildflower Week

Today on the CCEE Stampers blog we're celebrating Wildflower Week, the second week in May.  As hostess, I asked the team to include some flowers on their cards.  I made a rather clean and simple card for the challenge.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled this challenge.

STAMPlorations CAS Challenge

This is a reminder that you still have time to enter the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge for January.  It's an Anything Goes challenge with a color option of Silver or Gray.

I made a second sample card for the challenge, this time using STAMPlorations The Birds and The Blooms set.

You can enter up to three CAS cards for the challenge over on the STAMPlorations blog.

STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Silver or Gray

Today marks my first post as a guest designer for the STAMPlorations CAS challenge team.  I have not always been drawn to CAS cards but recently have become a big fan.  I do love the clean lines and lots of white space of CAS stamping.    The January challenge is Anything Goes: with an optional color choice of Silver or Gray.

For my card today, I used a stamp set called Smile.

If you'd like to play along with this month's challenge, check out the STAMPlorations CAS blog and link up your card at the end.  There are prizes!  $10 gift certificate for the winner and $5 gift certificate for the top picks.

CCEE1701 Bird Day

Happy New Year to all!  Vicky starts off 2017 as hostess for the CCEE Stampers, and she reminds us that today is "Bird Day."  Guess what our challenge was . . . you're right.  We were to include birds on our cards.  I made a relatively CAS card today using just an embossing folder, some CottageCutz dies and a few sequins.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see the birds the rest of the team used on their cards.

MFP Stamp Shop Great Outdoors Blog Hop - Day 1

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP
The Great Outdoors BLOG HOP

JOIN US EACH DAY, June 21-24 FOR SOME OUTDOOR FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the June 24th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop Outdoor-Themed stamp sets.  Just comment on the participating blogs (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win!  (You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.)  Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the June 24 post. The winners will be announced on July 9, 2016, on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day.  (HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice.) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday, July 8, 2016 at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
June 22-- Tin Foil Tags by Gail
June 24-- Scrapbook Layout by Sandy

Let's get started !!

My first card for this month's hop is a clean and simple one, combining images from two different MFP Stamp Shop sets.

The MFP Stamp Shop sets used on this card are On the Fly and Mountain Selections.

Be sure you check out the rest of the blog hop. 

Here's the Design Team:

Bonnie
Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois   (that's me)
Marilynn

Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Outdoor Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by July 8th and check back on July 9, 2016, to see if you are a winner. 

MFP Stamp Shop Wild, Wild West Blog Hop - Day 1

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP
The Wild Wild West BLOG HOP
Ride 'em, Cow Boys
and Girls!

JOIN US EACH DAY, May 24-27 FOR SOME HORSE-RIDING FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE TWO WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the May 27th MFP STAMP SHOP BLOG POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop WESTERN-THEMED STAMP SETS. Just comment on the participating blogs (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT need to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the May 27 post. The winners will be announced on
June 11, 2016, on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice.) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday, June 10, 2016, at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
May 25-- Faux Wood Technique by Marilynn
May 27-- Rocker Card by Sandy

Let's get started !!

The theme of this month's blog hop lends itself well to guy cards.  My first card this week is a relatively clean-and-simple one -- with just a bit of dress-up (the beads and feathers).

The MFP Stamp Shop set that I used for this card is Buffalo Spring.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cards in today's hop.  Here's the Design Team:

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois   (that's me)
Marilynn

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Cowboy Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by June 10th and 

check back on June 11, 2016, to see if you are a winner.

Card Maker Blog - Cardmaking Tip

I have a post on the Card Maker Blog today demonstrating how I made this card.

I hope you'll stop by and check it out.

MFP Blog Hop Day 4 - Small Flowers

Welcome to the MFP Stamp Shop

April Blog Hop

Let's get started!!!!

This month's new Stamp Set Releases are:

Featured April 28

Paper Doll Sophia

Featured April 29

Paper Doll Sophia Let's Go

Featured April 30

Big Trees

Featured May 1

Small Flowers

Please Hop along with us!! You have a chance to win one of these new stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below ( don't forget this one ) each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) The winners will be announced on May 2, 2015, on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. ( HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice. ) The deadline for commenting is Friday, May 1, 2015, at 10:00 PM EST.

Here it is, Friday already and the last day of this month's hop.  My first card with today's set, Small Flowers, is a clean and simple, one-layer card.

The masked strip was sponged with Ranger Distress Tumbled Glass and Bundled Sage, my go-to colors for landscapes.  Small Flowers is a mini set with no sentiments, so I used one of the sentiments from another MFP Stamp Shop set, Be Happy.  

My second card is part of a set.  

I made the bag using a pattern I had purchased several years ago.  My 84-year old neighbor is having a rough time at the moment.  Her husband is in a rehab center, and she's been going back and forth almost every day to visit with him.  I thought she needed a lift, so I bought her a cupcake at the local Publix Super Market bakery.  On the card I used a scrap from the 12" x 18" piece of heavyweight paper from which the bag is made.  

I hope you've gotten some inspiration from my projects this week.  Now it's time to visit the blogs of the rest of the team.  Hopefully, you'll get some inspiration from everyone this month.  Be sure to comment so you increase your chances of winning a free MFP Stamp Shop stamp set.

Here's the Design Team

Bonnie

Jane

Janine 
Karen
Lois  (that's me)
Marilynn

Pam Mc

Pam T 
Pat
Sandy
Shirley 

Sue

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies

Today's Technique Lovers Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers is a favorite of mine -- Triple Stamping.  I pulled out one of my butterfly stamps for this one.  I usually use a slightly smaller image for this particular technique, but I saw a card using this Stampin' Up butterfly the other day and decided to use it here.

After stamping the butterfly over the three layers of white cardstock with Versafine Onxy Black ink, I clear embossed it and then colored it with three different Copic markers (Y06, YR09, YR27).  I added the shadow behind the butterfly using three other markers (E50, E51, E53).  Then I put the orange mat behind the two top layers and attached the whole panel to the card base, popping up the sentiment with a foam pop dot.

I also made a card for the Clean and Simple Challenge on Splitcoaststampers today.  That challenge was all about New Year's Resolutions.  I'm not a big resolutions maker/keeper, but I am going to try to do one thing -- when I put a card into My Favorites album on SCS, I should CASE it quickly.  I had seen this beautiful card made by Harriet Skelly on Saturday and popped it into My Favorites right away.    I even bought the same embossing folder she used later that day at Joann.  Here's my version of Harriet's card:

I recently bought a set of four Spellbinders butterflies call Les Papillions Two, called that because it actually makes just two butterflies because two of the dies are shadows which you place behind the more intricate one.  The larger butterfly on my card was made with that set.  The middle one actually was a bit harder to make.  I cut the orange one out first.  When I cut the black "shadow" one, I had to be careful when I took the cardstock out of the die because I didn't want to lose the little pieces.  Then I just put some Scotch tape behind the butterfly to keep the small pieces in place.  The top smallest butterfly was made with a punch.

Card #1
Stamps:  Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Hero Arts Little Happy Birthday
Ink:  Versamark Onyx Black
Paper:  MFP Stamp Shop Bright Orange, Snow Storm Smooth
Accessories:  Copic markers, Circle punches, Foam pop dots

Card #2
Paper:  Georgia Pacific White, MFP Stamp Shop Bright Orange, Recollections Orange/White polka dots
Accessories:  Spellbinders Les Papillions Two dies, Cheery Lynn Exotic Butterfly die, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Darice Butterfly Swirl embossing folder, Pearls

White-on-White

White-on-white cards always catch my eye because they're so elegant.  Today's Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to make an all-white card, and the Clean and Simple Challenge was to make the sentiment the focal point.  I combined these two challenges to make this card:

While it's not very elegant, it is definitely white-on-white.  After embossing the bottom panel and popping it onto the card base, I punched out three balloons, added some fishing line for strings, and attached them to the card with big pop dots.  I tied the strings together, glued them down with a glue dot, and popped on a little white bow.  The birthday sentiment is from a set of Sizzix dies.  I cut out the words and popped them on with very small foam dots.  Pretty simple!  No stamping required!

Paper:  MFP Stamp Shop Snow Storm Smooth
Accessories:  Sizzix dies, MS punch, Fishing line, Ribbon, Darice embossing folder

MFP Blog Hop Day 1 - Hot Air Balloon

Welcome to the Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company

September Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured Sept.23
Hot Air Balloon 

Featured Sept. 24

Witchie

 Featured Sept. 25

Chrysanthemum

Featured Sept. 26

Nutcrackers

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on today's participating blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All six winners will be announced on 

Sept. 27, 2014 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) 
The deadline for 

commenting is 10 PM EST on Friday,  September 26, 2014.

How old are you?  Do you remember The Fifth Dimension?  When I first saw today's stamp set, Hot Air Balloon, I immediately thought of The Fifth Dimension and their 1967 hit, Up Up and Away.  Here's a little refresher if you'd like.  Don't laugh at the clothes -- remember, it was the 60's!  I got rid of all my old LPs a long time ago, but I found a photo on-line.  I noticed on their website that they are still doing concerts.

Riding in a hot air balloon was on my bucket list.  And I'm happy to say that I have crossed it off.  For my 50th birthday, my husband arranged for me to go up in one.  HE didn't want to go up, but the dear man bought me a ride!  Actually, my neighbor (whose wife didn't want to do it) and I took an hour's ride over Central Florida, landing on the golf course at Walt Disney World!

My sister and her husband travel in their RV every summer.  Last summer they were in New Mexico during the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.  Here is a photo she sent to me.   She said it was 5:30 in the morning!

And she sent me an ornament that she purchased.  I tried to use similar colors on my Top Note Box (directions for box were on a CD I purchased from Technique Junkies Newsletter).

Here's the inside of the box -- there are two compartments.

As you can see, I had fun with this set; and I'm sure the rest of the team did, too.  Be sure to check out all the cards/projects they've created.  And comment often so you have a chance to win one of this month's stamp sets!

Here's the Design Team for today:

Lois (that's me)

Kelli Jo

Karen 

 Kathy

Toni

Janine

Shirley Q

Vickie
Sandy

Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co.

Come on back tomorrow for more creativity.

Card

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Hot Air Balloon

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Tumbled Glass

Paper:  Mark's Finest Papers - Premium Heavyweight White

Accessories:  Heidi Swapp stencil, Copic markers

Box

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Hot Air Balloon

Ink:  Memento Nautical Blue

Paper:  Mark's Finest Papers - Deep Scarlet, Snow Storm Smooth; Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy; K & Company Americana DP

Accessories:  Top Note die, Copic markers, Corner rounder