CASology Week #380 -- SNOWMAN

 This week's cue word at CASology is SNOWMAN and I couldn't wait to

finally ink up the layered WPlus9 snowman. He's so cute! There are two snowmen 

in the set and I chose the larger one and the layering tree.

This stamp set is pretty amazing and for someone who's not so proficient at

layering, it's very forgiving. And Jennifer McGuire shared tips for mass

producing in her video which made it even more stress free.

 

I added some sparkle to the tree, grounded the snowman with a Copic marker, 

and finished off the card with the sentiment. I resisted the urge to add some 

falling snow to keep it as CAS as possible.

 

Thank for stopping by today!

CAS(E) this Sketch #402 -- A Three Weeker!

As you celebrate the holidays responsibly and safely, you can also play along

with CAS(E) this Sketch because we're giving you THREE weeks to enter!

Here's Sketch #402, brought to you by our leader Chrissy.

And here's my take on it made without any stamping.

 

Do you spy my favorite Altenew washi tape in the corner? Followed by a couple

of neglected tapes that I thought might have lost their stickiness. But they

were just fine. The sentiment is from a collaborative set by Pinkfresh Studio

and Scrapbook.com. 

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted Chrissy's

sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Jan 7, 2021.

Have a safe holiday and we'll see you next year!

 

Memory Box Challenge #67 -- Trees

 

I'm entering Memory Box Challenge #67 -- Trees. Sadly, after going through my

stash of dies, the only tree die I had was their retired Arboscello Tree.

So I decided to make it as festive as I could--with sequins.

I adhered the tree to a woodgrain embossed panel then covered it with colorful

sequins. The sentiment was cut from glittered card stock and adhered to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ellen Hutson 12 Days of Christmas Tags 2020 -- Day 7

 

I skipped a few days of Ellen Hutson's 12 Days of Christmas Tags and created a tag

for Day 7. Heather Meeson used A Marshmallow World as inspiration for her tag and

here is how I was inspired.

 

Yep, I went way literal with a couple of marshmallow snowpeople.  I could have

hand cut the marshmallows but went through my old stamps and dies and found

an MFT set from 2015. 

 

 

 I "toasted" them a bit with Distress ink, drew in their faces and assembled

them on a tag with a torn snowbank. I stamped the EBE sentiment, added

some stars and inked around the tag with white pigment ink.

 

I thought about letting them hold cups of hot cocoa or coffee.....but they'd melt!

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #401

It's retro week over at CAS(E) this Sketch. Meet Sketch #401 which was

Sketch #147 back in  2015.

Here's my take on it five years ago.

And here's the 2020 version. Yes, a gnome is involved since he was already 

constructed and just waiting to make an appearance.

I used the Twirling Flurries cover plate on gray card stock and backed it with

a panel of white card stock. The Pretty Pink Posh sentiment was white embossed

on an MFT stitched banner. I assembled the gnome, fishtail strip of plaid, and

the banner on the card, per the sketch.

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted the sketch

and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Dec 17th. We hope

to see you in the gallery!

Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas 2020--Day 1

I thought I'd be "tagged out" after all the tags I made for Tracey's 25 Days series

but I couldn't resist Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas 2020 and its unique twist.

 

Each day the tag has a Christmas carol for its theme. Day 1 featured Sandy

Allnock and her tag with Silver Bells as the inspiration song. She used an airbrush 

to color her tag and I resorted to ink blending. I chose a different color palette

from hers and used EBE's Big City dies.
 

 I adhered them to a dome tag cut from kraft and white embossed the sentiment

from EBE's (retired) Cozy Christmas.

 

 

 Snow was added with a white pigment pen and I finished off the tag with twine.

As much as I'd like to, I don't think I can do all twelve days of the challenge but

I'd like to crank out a few more before the deadline. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #400

Can you believe we've reached our 400th sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch?

We hope you'll play along on this amazing milestone!

 

Here's the sketch courtesy of our teammie Michelle.

 

And here's how I interpreted the sketch.

 

 I diecut the snowflake border, then inked it in ombré blues. After it was dried I spattered

it with water and white paint. I adhered it to a card base and added more snowflakes. 

The stamped sentiment and sequins finished off the card. 

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted the sketch and

join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Dec 10th. We look forward to

seeing you in the gallery!

25 Days of Christmas Tags 2020 -- Bonus Day!

 

I'm honored to be joining Day 26--a Bonus Day--of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags

with My Favorite Things as today's sponsor. If you're new to the event, go here for 

all the details and the link up.

 

Here's my tag using Warmest Wishes by Birdie Brown. This stamp set was brought 

out from MFT's Vault in October but I'm using the set that I already owned, the 

difference being the sentiment font and open die.

 

 

 

 

I started off by ink blending a Stitched Tag, spattering it with water and some

white paint after it was dried. I stamped the sentiment and added the snowflake

that I happened to have on hand and little girl. More snow was added to the

tag and the little girl with a white pigment pen.

Since it's a bonus day, I've got a bonus tag, using a retired and much loved 

Birdie Brown set called Ready, Set, Snow. 

 

 

 

I die cut a Stitched Tag and masked off a slope, ink blended the top portion, 

then spattered it with water. The snowboarding bear was stamped, colored with

Copics, and cut with the matching dies. The snow splashes were added to the tag 

and I stamped a few trees behind the bear in white pigment ink. The sentiment 

finished off the tag.

* * * * * 

And there you have it, another 25 Days of Christmas Tags has come to a close. 

Huge thanks to Tracey and her team for their tireless effort to bring a bit of joy 

and normalcy to us during these trying times with her 25 Days series.

 

 Until next year, happy tag making and Happy Holidays!

Inspired by Challenge #151 -- Brush On Color

The newest Inspired by Challenge theme is Brush on Color and the graphic has the 

cutest bottle brush trees. I was inspired by both the photo and the challenge sketch.

 

I grabbed Altenew's Leaf Mix Dies and ink blended them in ombré fashion, then 

spattered them with silver paint. They were adhered to an embossed (but difficult 

to see) panel and the card was finished off with the sentiment.

 

I thought I had some bottle brush tree images or dies but had to resort to leaves.

If you squint, you can kinda sorta see bottle brush trees, no? 

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #399--A Two Weeker!

You'll have plenty of time to join CAS(E) this Sketch #399 because it's a

two weeker! CTS regulars know that twice a year we extend the challenge

deadline so you can enjoy the holiday and still play along with us!

This week's sketch is from yours truly and it looks like this.

 

And here's my liberal take on it.

I inked four Concord & 9th leaves and subbed them for the square element on

the sketch. I added a strip of textured paper and adhered all the layers 

per the sketch. I finished off the card with the stamped sentiment.

Remember you have two weeks to enter your card(s) and celebrate the (U.S.) 

holiday AND any Black Friday shopping. The deadline to link up your card(s) is

Thursday, December 3rd.

* * *

I'd like to take this time to thank you for your timely visits to my blog and for

your sweet and encouraging comments. Enjoy the holiday!

CASology #378 -- STAG

The cue word for Week #378 at CASology is STAG.

 

 Here's my card featuring a discontinued Maggie Holmes stag head die.

I covered white card stock with Altenew's Painted Fantasy washi tape, then cut 

out the stag and adhered it to two more stag heads cut from card stock to form a 

thick chipboard piece. I stamped the sentiment and ran the panel through 

an embossing folder for a bit of texture.

This is total happenstance, but note how a flower bud on the tape became

the eye of the stag and he even appears to have a nose! Total chance 

but I love how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #398

 Are you ready for this week's sketch from Chrissy?

It's a fun one!

 

Throwback to this card back in 2013 when I was part of the Avery Elle 

design team. I used the same (retired) alpha set and updated the card stock 

colors with ink distressing on watercolor card stock.

I stamped a lined background from MFT with white pigment ink, then adhered

the letters, forming a triangular tree shape. A shimmery star finished off the card.

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted Chrissy's

sketch and play along with us! Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Nov 19th

and we look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I'm finally joining this year's Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

 

I made some time after my order from Frantic Stamper (thanks, Fran!) arrived just a 

few days after I placed my order. I was planning to use it for a future Coffee Lovers Hop

because I didn't think it would fly to Hawaii so quickly but I'm thankful that it did.

 

 Aren't those the cutest gnomes sitting in coffee cups? The dies are by Cottage Cutz,

a new to me company, and what I liked about the set is they were on one solid piece.

There are no dies to cut apart and all the pieces cut in one pass.

Everything was cut from white card stock then ink distressed or, for the noses

and the holly, colored with Copics. This happens to be a mini slimline card and I used

Taylored Expressions' dies which were the perfect size for three gnomes. Sometimes 

regular slimline cards are too big and I find myself trying to fill up spaces on the card 

base. Mini slimlines are now a new fave!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Cottage Cutz Dies Cup O'Gnomes
Taylored Expressions Stitched Mini Slim Stacklets
Pinkfresh Studio Diamond Tiles Cling Rubber Stamp
MFT Birdie Brown Sweater Weather in the Woods

 

 

25 Days of Christmas Tags 2020 -- Day 2

 This is Tracey's 10th year of organizing her popular 25 Days of Christmas Tags

and I always try to make time to participate because I love making tags. 

 

The sponsor for Day 2 is Simon Says Stamp and I had some Lil' Gnomes

that were leftover from last year's release so I put them to use. I was inspired

by Simon's Wednesday Challenge blog DT member Lin who happened to use

the Lil' Gnome on her adorable tag. And I have not one, but three tags to share.

All three tags were basically constructed the same way. A bit of greenery and 

sentiments from Simon Says Stamp and Papertrey Ink.

 

Love these gnomes and I'm glad that I had a chance to use them again!

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #397 -- You're a fungi

It's retro week over at CAS(E) this Sketch. Here's Sketch #397, formerly

 Sketch #184 in 2016.

This was my take on the sketch back then.

And here's the 2020 version.

 

 I'm still on a mushroom kick and used some leftovers from my stash. I used 

the sketch mainly as a guide and simplified it so the mushrooms weren't

 squished. I adhered the mushrooms, then grounded them with Copic 

markers. I stamped the sentiment and finished off with a rounded corner.

 

Stop by CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted 

the sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by 

Thursday, November 12th and we hope to see you in the gallery!

 

CASology Week #377 -- Sunset

 The cue word for the latest CASology challenge is SUNSET.

And here's my take on it.

 

I ink distressed a panel with several colors of Distress inks and spattered it with

water. After it was dried, I trimmed and adhered it to a card base, then topped it

with a retired landscape die from Memory Box, and finished off with the

discontinued Lisa Johnson sentiment.

The scene could go either way--sunrise or sunset. What do you see?

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

* * *

 

Edited to add: My card was given an Honorable Mention honor!

Thanks, CASology!

 

 

CAS(E) this Sketch #396

 Teammie Michelle brings us this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #396.

 

 And here's my take on it.

I found this ink distressed background in my scrap pile and honestly, I don't even

remember what company designed the stamps--it was that long ago. But I thought

 that it fit the sketch so I added the CZ Designs sentiment and called it done.

Meanwhile, visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted

Michelle's sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Nov 5th

and we hope to see you in the gallery!

Inspired By Challenge #147 -- Fall is Sweet

I'm joining the latest Inspired By Challenge -- Fall is Sweet. I was inspired by

the coffee theme and used the sketch for my card.

 

 

I used the Greetery's Cozy Cup set and let them hang over the edge while still 

following the sketch. I added a couple of spoons, stamped the curved sentiment, 

and finished off with a rounded corner.

While this set is still out, I'll stamp a few more cups and spoons for the upcoming

Fall/Winter 2020 Coffee Lovers Blog Hop that starts on November 6th to the 13th.

I'm SO looking forward to all the caffeine goodness that's sharerd!

Thanks for stopping by!

* * * 

Edited to add: My card was chosen as Honorable Mention! 

Thank you, Inspired By Challenge! 

CAS(E) this Sketch #395 and Playing with Plaids

CAS(E) this Sketch #395 is by yours truly.

 

I wasn't planning to go so literal with a wreath, but decided to after seeing 

that my card would fit a second challenge over at Memory Box --Playing with Plaids.

 

 

 

 I die cut Memory Box Jovial Wreath (which I think is discontinued) and flowers 

and leaves from Poppystamps'  Blooming Border from ink smooshed papers. 

A strip of green Buffalo plaid was adhered to a card base and the sentiment

was stamped in the center.

I assembled the wreath on the card, then added the flowers and leaves.

I finished off the card by rounding off the left bottom corner

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted the sketch

and join us if you can! Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Oct 29th and we

hope to see you in the gallery!