Wednesday 31 August 2016

Muse 181 - Happy Birthday


Here's my card for this week's Muse challenge, where our Guest Muse, Sarah has given us a fun inspiration:


I turned it on its side and then focused on Sarah's:
-colours - blue, yellow green. (I added a bit of orange to warm it up)
-sparkly strip
-general layout

I used:
-Simon Says Stamp Spring Flowers & Dies
-Papertrey Bigger Blooms
-Distress Ink

Tuesday 30 August 2016

CASology 213 - Stitch


This week's CASology Cue Card is Stitch!



I chose a festive theme for my stitching and used limited colours to keep my card ultra CAS. I used WPlus9 Hand Lettered Holiday and Fair Isle Backgrounds

Now it's your turn. Be sure to check out the rest of the DT for more inspiration!


Sunday 28 August 2016

FS499 - Thanks


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Mary (stamps-n-lingers). Her gallery is full of beautiful work. I finally settled on this card as my inspiration:



I was inspired by Mary's:
-colours
-layout
-thanks theme
-floral background

I changed:
-fewer layers
-stamps instead of patterned paper
-sequins instead of yarn as embellishment
-no hearts

I used:
-Stampin' Up! Layered Alphabet
-Altenew Mini Blooms
-LOTS of Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

Saturday 27 August 2016

Birthday Fun!


Do you know my friend Kimberly? She just released her first stamp set with Essentials by Ellen and it's so adorable! It's called Sock Monkey Surprise and it has this cute monkey and all sorts of fun 'stuff' (OMG, the banana!) for him and some great sentiments, too!

Once it got here, I sat down right away to have some fun with it. I die cut and coloured a bunch of the monkeys and then played around until I came up with this fun birthday card.

I also used Essentials by Ellen's Up The Happy.

I'm linking up to the current Seize the Birthday Challenge. and Darnell's latest NBUS challenge!

      

Friday 26 August 2016

MCV59 - Joy To The World


Here's my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge, where our Guest, Meredith has given us this traditional-with-a-twist inspiration:



I focused on Meredith's:
-popped up tag element
-red joy
-black sentiment
-green bow
-scalloped edge
-use of vellum
-general layout

I used:
-Impress Joy
-Papertrey Bow
-Hero Arts 'to the world'
-MFT Mini-Scalloped Stitched Square die
-Memory Box Pierced Square die

Thursday 25 August 2016

SSSWC- Square Birthday


This week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is right up my alley - Hip to Be Square. You know I'm the hippest, squarest girl around! lol! I love making square cards!

I was inspired by my worksurface after I had sponged some panels the other day - sometimes I think it ends up being prettier than anything I've actually created on purpose! lol!


I used:
-Simon Says Stamp It's No Secret
-Simon Says Stamp Friendly Flowers

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Muse 180 - Happy Birthday


This is my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where our Guest Muse, Marilyn has given us this pretty inspiration:


I was inspired by Marilyn's:
-floral theme
-colours

I actually made 2 cards - I have two friends with upcoming birthdays and thought it would be fun to use a 'same but different' approach.

The first one is light and airy. I used an Impression Obsession die and an old Simon Says Stamp sentiment.


For the second one, I used the matching Impression Obsession stamp and the same sentiment.

Tuesday 23 August 2016

CASology 212 - Fun


This week's CASology Cue Card is Fun!



Celebrations are fun, so I chose a one-word Papertrey die-cut sentiment for this week's card. I coloured a strip of white cardstock with a rainbow of Copic markers before cutting it. I then stacked it on top of 3 black die cuts, to provide a bit of definition and texture.

Now it's your turn to have some fun! Make sure you check out the rest of the DT for more inspiration!

Monday 22 August 2016

SPDMIX12 - For Someone Special


This is my card for the current SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge.



My first thought was that I didn't have a clue how to use the photo - vintage is not really my style! But then I focused on the colours. These are great colours for a masculine card, and mixing it up with the sketch inspiration, I was able to put together a fun coffee-themed card.

I used:
-Caffeine Addict
-Coffee To Go Cup SugarCuts
-Feeling Sentimental
-Celebrate All the Things (star)

Sunday 21 August 2016

FS498 - You Are Amazing


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Donna Idlet (didlet). Her gallery goes back a few years and I thought it would be fun to choose this one and update it a bit.



I was inspired by Donna's:
-colours (aqua, red, green, kraft)
-floral theme
-stripes

I changed:
-technique
-layout
-number of layers
-embellishments

I started with a graduated wash on my background in Peacock feathers and then I took another shot at a faux watercolour technique using distress inks. This time, I stamped the image repeatedly, layering up the distress inks, cleaning the stamp between each layer, and therefore keeping the stamp quite wet. That helped with the blending. When I was finished, I spritzed the clean stamp from a distance and then stamped it just with the water on it. That also helped blend and spread the ink a bit without it going so far that the shapes were lost (I tried that method, too!).

I used:
-Verve Kind Words
-Verve Simply Amazing
-Your Next Stamp Stripetastic

Saturday 20 August 2016

TO64 - Dreams Take Flight


Next week, my son will be getting his wings. Yes. He will be a fully-licensed private pilot. At 17. He has accomplished this through the Royal Canadian Air Cadet program and has been working very, very hard all summer to make sure he passed all the exams and got all his hours completed. He flies Cessna 172 Skyhawks.

So when I saw the current Time Out Challenge inspiration card from Guest Julia Altermann, I was inspired to make a card for him. Julia's card is fun and full of life - I made mine a little more masculine.



I was inspired by Julia's:
-colours (red, yellow and blue)
-plane theme
-square card
-blue stripes (I have only one)

I used Taylored Expressions Plane Awesome and Copic Markers.

Friday 19 August 2016

MCV58 - Joy


Wow! Another challenging  Christmas inspiration at Muse: ChristmasVisions this week. Cornelia has used dramatic colours and techniques to produce this amazing card that left me without a clue as to how to proceed!

I love all of it -  the layered stamping, the washed background, the drama of all that black and the merest hint of lavender.



I was inspired by Cornelia's:
-colours (black, white, grey, lavender)
-heavy use of black to add drama

I used:
-Neat & Tangled Falling Flakes
-Concord & 9th Joy die
-Silver Stickles


Thursday 18 August 2016

Muse 179 - Amazing Birthday


This is my card for this week's Muse challenge, inspired by Jenni's ultra-CAS birthday candle card:



I was inspired by Jenni's:
-birthday theme
-vertical, colourful candles
-square shape

I used:
-Your Next Stamp Stripetastic Edge
-Verve Simply Amazing
-Copics

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Inspired by Cornelia


I am always inspired by my Muse: ChristmasVisions team-mate Cornelia. She has a great artistic talent and always makes beautiful projects. For instance, go check out her inspiration for this week's MCV Challenge - I hope we'll see you playing along!

This week, I was particularly inspired by a daisy card she made using Stamplorations flower stamps (scroll down a bit in this post to see her card).

I still had my Lisa Lara (A Jillian Vance Design (sorry, retired)) daisies out after making this card and decided to give Cornelia's technique a go.

I embossed the daisies in white and then used Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber and Persimmon to watercolour.

I finished the card with a sentiment from Dala Horse by Neat & Tangled. It was 'surgically altered' to make use of the space around the daisies.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Floral Shadows Thank You


My most recent Altenew order included Floral Shadows as well as Bamboo Roses. I've been playing around with these solid images.

The technique I've seen others use so beautifully is to ink up the stamps with distress inks, spritz and then stamp onto watercolour paper. I was struggling to get the amount of spritz exactly right - too much water and you just get a blob of colour on your paper, no shape at all.

So I ended up layering the inks in a bunch of different colours and then spritzing the paper. I got this effect which I think is pretty neat. I love how the colour just bled out into the surrounding areas.

It gives kind of a dreamy, blurred effect, which I think is interesting. I love the contrast of the soft flowers and the crisp sentiment.

CASology 211 - Dream


This week's CASology Cue Card is Dream!



I'll tell you in this August heat that I'm dreaming of a white Christmas! And so that's what I made - I used an old Cuttlebug embossing folder, leaving room at the bottom of the panel for an Old Island Stamp Company sentiment stamped in festive red.

The texture adds interest without taking away from all that white space.

And now it's your turn! What are you dreaming about right now? We can't wait to see! The DT has lots of inspiration for you:

Monday 15 August 2016

More Bamboo Roses



Two more cards using Altenew's Bamboo Roses and Floral Shadows (sentiments). I'm still really enjoying colouring with copics on Neenah and clearly gravitated to a yellow mix for these.

Saturday 13 August 2016

FS497 - Thank You


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is amymay998. Her gallery is full of fun, clever projects and I chose this one as my inspiration:



I focsued on Amy's:
-outline floral images with colourful centres

I changed:
-layout
-colours
-white cardbase

I used:
-A Jillian Vance Design Flutters and Florals
-Mama Elephant Pix's Favorites

Hello Bamboo Roses


I ordered two of the new Altenew sets from the latest release and I was playing around with them the other day. This one uses Bamboo Rose and the sentiment is from Floral Shadows.

I embossed the roses in white, and coloured with Zigs, in the colours of flamingos, to link up with Altenew's August Inspiration Challenge.



August2016_AltenewInspirationChallenge_Therese_2


Friday 12 August 2016

SPDMIX11 - Celebrate!


Tracey and I played together yesterday, getting lots of cardmaking done (no really! we tried new techniques, new products and both ended up with lots of stuff we can use for future cards!).

We both made cards (here's Tracey's) for the current SugarPea Designs Mix it up Challenge where you can choose the sketch, or the photo inspiration, or both!



I chose the photo this time and created big, bright fun circles with a mask created using the Funky Christmas Die and Distress Inks.

I finished with a sentiment and stars from Celebrate All the Things.

Thursday 11 August 2016

MCV57 - Merry Christmas


This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where Chriss has given us a beautifully watercoloured inspiration:


I focused on Chriss':
-wreath theme
-one element 'off the edge' 
-colours
-sentiment with both text and script

I used:
-Memory Box Open Studio Scribble Christmas
-Clearly Besotted Brushed Greetings (which appears to have been updated since I purchased it)
-Copics
-Glossy Accents

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Muse 178 - Awesome Friend


This is my card for this week's Muse challenge, where Tracey gave us this pretty inspiration:



I focused on Tracey's:
-colours (two pinks and black)
-floral theme
-large scripty sentiment

I used:
-Neat & Tangled Awesome
-Neat & Tangled Scandinavian Prints
-enamel dots
-Altenew inks


ETA (Oct 4): I was Noticed!


Tuesday 9 August 2016

CASology 210 - Dizzy


This week's CASology Cue Card is Dizzy!



This is a fun one - so many ideas (make sure you check out the DT!). I went with this Mama Elephant Ferris Wheel.

I stamped it in Versafine Onyx and embossed it with clear ep. I created 'ground' with a mask and sponged some grass and some sky to add a bit of soft colour.

Now it's your turn! The DT has some more inspiration for you: