Trying Too Hard?

Just got to n very late from a trip to Liverpool to visit my son and remembered on the long drive home that I had forgotten to write my post for CAS Colours & Sketches, as I'm the hostess this week that is a bit of a big deal, so it's 11 pm and I'm writing it now!
For the fourth Thursday in November ( and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating in the US) it is a sketch and when I came up with this one I was rather pleased with myself. Yesterday when I was trying to make my card I was less pleased, it was so hard! So, if you give it a go you will certainly get a complimentary comment from me! Here is the offending sketch ( no one else to blame for it, just me)

When I sat down to craft my card I thought about cutting two circles of DP, but it just wasn't enough for m. I saw that a couple of my  teamies had already created cards like that ( and they are fab too) but I thought I needed to show a different way. 

I remembered making 3D baubles one Christmas and wondered if it would work with half circles. Well, what do you think?

I used a Kraft card blank, some pearlised gold card and then some Kraft and white/ red papers to make the baubles

I used washi tape for the greeting and the only stamping on my card are the two little bows, carefully positioned and stamped in Stayzon to ensure they didn't smudge on the pearlised card

Thanks, Man!

i have a vintage style thank you card this morning to share. As its for The Male Room Challenge it is, of course, designed for a man with more than a little help from the sketch over at The Paper Players.

This card started life as a technique workshop, where we used dark card stock, embossed and rubbed over with a metallic ink pad, to resemble metal work. Here it is black card and a copper coloured ink on a printing press themed embossing folder ( no idea which brand as I borrowed it on the evening)

I have used this as a top layer, and put some vintage K&Co paper behind it. The banner is stamped with a sentiment from Vintage Verses- I used Chocolate Chip on Kraft card.

I have made a small mat from some DP, from Adventure Bound- these are brilliant papers for masculine cards, and added a small Kraft tag with a stamped vintage car image. I sponged all the edges of the layers with Crumb Cake

The finishing touch is a little clock hand added to point to the sentiment and I've used a small Brad to attach it.

Icicles from Grunge

I'm still hosting at CAS Colours & Sketches and today I've chosen a colour combo which I have used for some contemporary Christmas cards. I've got two variations to show you, both are CAS of course but first let me show you the colours

I saw a card that used this stamp from Gorgeous Grunge and it reminded me of icicles, especially stamped and embossed in metallic silver. I added a peel off sentiment and used cardstock to add the colours

This is a tent fold card and you can see a sprinkling of silver stars.

Whilst I like card number 1 in real life, it looks a little 'heavy' in the photo so I had a go at the same design but stamped on white card, just adding the colours in the mats. This time the sentiment is stamped and its from Holiday Home

Instead of the peel off stars this card has a few strategically placed silver rhinestones to add the Christmas twinkle.

Spotlight on Dasher

It's my second week hosting at CAS Colours & Sketches and it's the turn of the sketch. Now I don't mind telling you that this sketch has caused a few problems for me, not least because over at the challenge blog we are celebrating 150 posts! Yes, 150... We are nearly three years old, and so it had to be a good one as there are prizes up for grabs! Enough, you say, show us the sketch

I think the fact that I've added an aperture, rather than a shape, may push the challenge. Also, you must use a 1 5 and/or a 0 to qualify for the prize draw. I decided to go all Christmas on you again

Recognise him? Yes, it's Dasher again. Stamped and heat embossed in gold, set into the aperture

Teamed up with a number stamp from Merry and Type and some SU DP.

You can see the aperture more clearly on the following shots. Very clean, very simple, quick and easy once I had decided on the theme.

The gold and the plaid go together so well for Christmas don't you think?

You can see I have used 25, which has a five in it, so it's good for the draw, you don't have to use just the 1 5 or 0, as long as we can see one of them there. Hope you find time to join in this week.

Cards for Sad Thoughts

Good Morning! In November, once the foreworks and bonfires are over in the UK we usually turn our thoughts to Remembrance Day, the 11th day of the 11th month. I rather lik the fact that the whole of the country stops at the 11th hour for a two minute silence, even in the busy high school where I work. My husband  and sons also attend the Rembrance service in church on Rembrance Sunday, as members of the local counting group. All that said, I went with a sympathy card for the new challenge at The Male Room.

I love Lovely As A Tree, it's so versatile...here it makes a muted sympathy card. First job was to cut the aperture. After stamping the image in grey, directly on the front of a card blank, I inked up another piece of white card with a selection of sunset colours, just blending and mixing pale pink, oranges and yellows. I cut a similar sized circle from this inked up card.

Using the stamp positioning tool, I lined up the circle underneath the acetate sheet in the correct position and stamped the tree image on top.

Then it was just a matter of popping the circle into place, which I did, through the cut aperture.

 I added a scored border and a generic With Sympathy sentiment. On the photograph below you can see how well the stamped images match up.

After a tip off from fellow DT member,Rocky, I will be entering this card in the challenge at House Of Cards, a new to me challenge blog where the theme for November is a stamped and cut window technique.

Sad, but uplifting was the idea behind this card. I have already had to use it, as a friend of mine lost their Mother in between me making this card and writing the post, it's always useful for me to have one or two of these cards ready to go as I rarely feel like crafting when I get sad news like this.

I made two, the second card using Wetlands and one of those glossy inked up and cling filmed backgrounds

The stamping of the sentiment was not really good enough to use this one as the DT ample but I'll keep it in my stash.

Blackberries, Mustard and Chocolate!

All through November it is my turn to host the challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches. I've been on this team since its inception, nearly three years ago! Clean and simple is definitely the style I have grown into, I do try others some times but my CAS cards are always my favourites. This week I chose some warm, spicy colours for everyone to play with

I had so many ideas for this one but it was at my monthly craft club meeting that this card finally took shape, as we experimented with heat embossing onto dark cardstock. One of the crafters there had made a square card with four panels of a repeated sentiment. I have adapted her design, with three panels on a rectangular card base. It's hard to see the Blackberry Bliss well on these shots, but in real life it looks gorgeously rich and dark.

I used the boldest sentiment I have, from the Happiest Birthday Wishes set- I really could do with buying some more sentimental  sets. Any recommendations?

I didn't have the mustard colour card, so instead I used the ink pad to colour up a piece of white card. It worked just fine after I had left it to dry for a while

The base is made from SU naturals white card, it matched the Vanilla colour of my embossing powder better than white. Lots of dimension here, with the sentiment panels popped up on foam lads, along with the naturals white mat. I think my card has come out quite masculine, not on purpose, but I'm fine with that...lots of men in my family will be needing a card soon.

Hope you get chance to have a go with these colours, can't wait to see your creations.