August Double

There are 5 Thursdays in August and so, over at CAS Colours and Sketches we're doing 'the double' That means that we have a sketch and a colour challenge combined. Have a look

So, you must follow the sketch and use the three suggested colours (don't worry if you don't have the exact Stampin' Up colours) Here's my interpretation-

I die cut circles out of white cs, and embossed with my Mosaic folder. Then I cut slightly smaller circles out of the dark blue  and layered them together.  My final layer I stamped and heat embossed the pattern using Mosaic Madness and hghlighted the centres with a white gel pen.  Can't really see the large circle, I hear you say..

Ta-da

It's a fold out flap with the sentient stamped on the inside.  The bird is of course an old favourite - the two step bird punch, stamped from the same set as the sentiment - The Language of Friendship.
This is the last post from me for a couple of weeks, I am going to take a short break from designing at the beginning of September, but I do intend to comment, so I'm looking forward to seeing your 'double' cards.

The Great Outdoors (in 4 stamp sets)

The third challenge at The Male Room is The Great Outdoors.  This is going to mean a lot of different things to different people.  My original thoughts were of nature, but I  needed to be a bit more adventurous so I thought of camping and activity holidays, but I really don't have the right stamps for that.  I do however have a bicycle stamp and so I've adapted it to fit in with the theme. My bicycle stamp has a basket on the front, not very masculine I feel, so I carefully inked up the stamp with a marker, avoiding the basket part of the image.

I have combined several stamps sets here, Lovely as a Tree in the background, the leaf from Autumn Days and the bicycle from Pedal Presents. Some of the leaves are fussy cut and popped up to add layers, more of a feel of rustling through the autumn leaves. My card is actually an easel card, which you can see below

Here's the detail from the 'stand' - another stamp set - this time Vintage Verses, for the sentiment.  This card is for my husband for our wedding anniversary, so the words are just right. More fussy cut leaves - one almost blowing off the card!

I do hope that you will join in our challenge again, remember you have two weeks to come up with a masculine card on the theme of The Great Outdoors. There are some other ideas by the DT over on the blog - do take a look.
Happy Crafting!

I Have Minions!

Just a quick post from me this morning with something you're either going to love or loathe, depending on whether you're into the films Despicable Me! and now Despicable Me 2!
My starting point was this week's sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches and I have tweaked it a little, although I'm sure you can still see the sketch

 I saw these minions, made using the Owl Punch, on the internet and had to try it out.  We're minion crazy in our house!

 The central grey shape is cut by hand and is the logo of Gru 'the world's greatest villan'! A fun card for a fan of the film, the hardest part is getting the silver 'goggles' right, tried several techniques best one seems to be paint on silver circles before adding the googly eye or eyes.
Do check out the cards from the other girls on the DT over at the blog.
Happy Crafting!

CAS Holly Wreath

It's Saturday again and here's another challenge from the team at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  It's a theme week and the theme is 'Holly'

 Don't these look lovely and seasonal? I can never find holly with berries in the week before Christmas, is it because the birds eat them?  If you know why I'd be interested to know.  I always scout out a few good trees in early December
but when I go back...no berries!
Anyway, here's my card

I could only find a tiny, freebie holly sprig, with three leaves and three berries, so I layered it up into a wreath, using my Gumball Green marker.  The sentiment is from Merry and Type and was previously uninked. I made a triple bow, used a dark red mat and the card base is Naturals White. All in all a 5 minute card, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, I could make a whole batch in half an hour!
This will be my last post for 52 CCT for a few weeks, I'm taking a short break, but will be back half way through September.  I'm sorry- I will miss commenting on all your lovely cards, but I'll take a sneak peek every now and then if I can get to a computer and wifi whilst I'm away.

Football or Flowers?

This one was interesting for me- three colours which individually I have no problem with, but together?  Well, I could only think of football team strips. But, and this is what always amazes me about colour challenges, when you take someone else's colour choice and have a play you can end up with something that you absolutely love, and that's what happened to me.  So, thank you Kylie for making me do this!
The challenge is, of course, from CAS Colours and Sketches and here are the three colours - they are named for Stampin' Up shades but you can use anything in your stash which is the same.

I chose to use Kraft as my card base and stamp in red onto light blue cardstck, but of course there are lots of variations - just don't use any other colours, except black or white.

I used just one stamp set- Best Of Flowers, love, love, love this set especially the daisy stamp (I know, you've seen it here before) but the other two were previously un-inked. A small piece of ribbon and some dimensionals make sure it has extra interest.
I'm away on holiday at the moment so forgive me for not commenting this week, I will look at all your creations when I get back as I really want to know what everyone has done with this combination. Happy Crafting.

Wetlands Reflections

It's time for the second challenge from the all new The Male Room challenge blog, and, judging from the number of entries we had for the first challenge, I'm guessing that you all were looking to create fabulous cards for the men and boys in our lives. I know I was.
This week we have a theme of 'Reflections'.  Now, I know there are lots of brilliant images out there which look great when given the reflection technique treatment, whether you use an acetate sheet or brayer, but I went for a brand new stamp set with a reflection already built in.

 

The card stock is Naturals White and the stamp is called Wetlands. I made the background by inking up an acrylic block with Sky Blue and Soft Brown Sugar inks, moistening it slightly and printing directly onto white card. Then I overstamped the images in Chocolate Chip and sponged the edges, before using dimensionals to stick it onto the front of my card base.  The goose was added last. I love the watery effect of the inked block (thanks to Jacqueline for sharing this technique)

Modern Nativity

It's a very rich and regal colour combo this week from the team at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - our hostess Sarah has chosen red and metallic gold. These ornaments look fabulous, don't they.

I am not sure what you will make of my card this week.  I've done something completely different, and I'm pleased with it, although I suspect there are some out there who would disagree.  Oh well, it doesn't do for us all to like the same thing all of the time.It happened because a friend gave me some old crafting stuff she's inherited. Much of it I couldn't use and I've passed it on to a local charity store but this one sheet of peel-offs caught my eye. It was so simple and beautiful (I'd love a stamp like this) and I decided to use it to create a card. As it was red it was just right for this week's challenge.

I've double matted it onto gold and red glitter card and my neutral choice is black - I've put a white liner inside so that I can write the card later. I feel it's an interesting mix of modern and traditional - what do you think?
However you like your red and gold, remember to only use one other neutral if you want to be in with a chance for a top slot.

Freebird

This week at CAS Colours and Sketches we have a lovely CAS sketch for you to have a play with, chosen by Kylie. I am sure you will find it very versatile, my problem was limiting my ideas to one! Here it is

I have made one small change, from a circle to an oval

I have had this DP for ages and I love it, although I've not found anything to do with it...until today. The birds in the cages give such a great background for the free bird, image from Nature Walk, and I've paper-pieced a little cage behind him with some nifty cutting!  I made one of the edges to the mat scalloped and have left lots of white space. The bird has a tiny black gem, giving him a 'beady' eye!
Do have a look at the creations from the rest of the DT.

Smackin' Acetate Technique

There's a new technique to try out for the month of August at Technique Time Tuesday and it's a real good one. It's called the Smackin' acetate technique (no idea where that name comes from!) and it's so simple and very effective.  There's even an easy to follow video tutorial to help you on your way.
Here's my card

Basically, you swipe markers over a sheet of acetate, spritz with water and print onto card to give a gorgeous background, where the colours blend, whilst retaining the stripes.  I had a few goes and have combined the two best onto my card. I used red, pink and yellow shades, the stamp image is from Bordering on Romance - a new to me set.  The other background is the same shades, this time stamped with Mosaic Madness.
There are some fantastic examples created by the other members of the DT over on the blog so check them out and then go and have a try yourself! Guaranteed lots of fun!

Silent Snow Flurry

A new month at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and a new hostess, Sarah will be hosting the challenges for August and she's started off with a cracking sketch,

I think this is such a classic design for a holiday card, my take is very contemporary but it goes with so many themes and techniques, just have a look at the different ideas from the DT!

I used a black card base and die cut some mirri card and more black CS to make the panels (mine are square, 'cos I didn't look closely enough at the sketch!).  The stamps are from a retired set called Snow Flurries, and I've heat embossed them in white.  I thought that the sentiment echoed the silent fall of snow too. I've used a bow in the corner for my shape, bit you can use any shape you like. I added the pop of strong pink - hope you like it!

Mosaics and Snowflakes

I can't believe it, August already! Perfect time for a Christmas card, well, that's what I've made this week for the colour challenge at CAS -Colours and Sketches.  Our hostess over there this month is Kylie and she's kicking off with an awesome colour combo of

 Although these are Stampin' Up shades, don't worry if you don't have them in your stash, just use the closest.
When I imagined a card using these colours it was vibrant, with the Melon Mambo really standing out, funny then that this is what happened

The white space is more dominant.  I used a new embossing folder and stamp set -Mosaic Madness, and a very old set called Snow Flurries. I have used the grey and the pink to double mat the embossed panel. and created three 3D 'ornaments' from the Mosaic stamp.  The greeting comes from Whacky Wishes and I've curled up the fish-tailed banner.
I'm going to have some time crafting today,looking forward to getting going again after my short break. Do hop over to the blog to see the creations from the rest of the team.