Believe

Okay, I couldn't resist making another super simple tree card.  I stamped the tree image (Penny Black) in Simply Chartreuse ink then silver embossed the star (W&W) and sentiment (Penny Black).  I die cut it with a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle and popped it onto a white card base.

ETA: Happy to have an honorable mention from Ardyth at CASology this week!

Challenge:
CASology - cue card tree










Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

The Best Gifts...

You may have to give me some artistic license on this one.  A couple of weeks ago I was playing around with smooshing a-la Laura Bassen.  I put mowed lawn distress ink on one of my long, skinny blocks, spritzed it with water, placed it on one end of my watercolor paper then just dragged it across.  Suddenly a forest of trees appeared!  It just needed the perfect sentiment (Penny Black) and a strategically placed star (W&W) embossed in gold and it was done. 

Challenges I'm entering in:
CASology - Cue card Tree
CAS Colours and Sketches - make it Christmassy 
Happy Little Stampers - Star - yip, it has a star
Happy Little Stampers - Favorite Technique - smooshing
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Any Previous 2015 Challenge - The Wild Woods (Oct)

 

I made a few of these since it was so easy and fun.  I kind of twisted and lifted the block as I dragged for this second one and went over it a couple of times. I had to flip a coin between this one and the one up top to decide which to enter, I think they are too similar to enter separately but I love them both.  Each one turns out unique and wonderful, I hope you'll give it a try! 

 

  

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Happy Holidays

Here's another not great picture that I will change later when I figure out what is going on with my editing software/computer.

I have one more card to put in for the Sparkle and Shine Challenge.  I used a very old and much loved PSX holly image to stamp out all the dress colors.  Then I added a color matched sequin to each leaf to really bling out the card!

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen 

Holiday Cheer

         

Arghh, these are horrible pictures, the camera is dying, it's a gray, snowy day out, my photo editing software doesn't seem to be working and I'm in a rush to get this entered into the Time Out Challenge which....I just missed.  Good thing it was for the Sparkle & Shine Challenge too!  I'll also put it in for CASology where the cue word is Give.  I think this card will definitely give someone some holiday cheer!
ETA - I'll also put this in to Inkspirational - Anything goes with Silver.  

ETA - So happy to be chosen as an Honorable Mention at CASology this week! 

                                                                              

This card just popped into my head about 15 minutes ago!!!  I used a Penny Black Christmas tree from a stamp set that I got free with a magazine last year.  I inked up the colors for the Sparkle & Shine Challenge and stamped them sideways.  I used a simple vellum strip with Holiday Cheer embossed in silver for the sentiment then added just a couple of sparkling clear sequins for some classy bling.

Thanks so Much for Looking!

Karen

Merry & Bright

Here is my fifth and final entry into the Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking Challenge.  Sorry for the gray picture (it's ironic given the sentiment and how the card looks in real life!),  I seem to have a heck of a time taking photos with colored cardstock - the colors never seem to match the real life version. 
I inked up some cardstock with a nice bright red distress ink then added some water droplets to add some depth.  After I cut out the circle I white embossed the sentiment from Joy to the World.  It still didn't have the oomph I wanted, so I sprayed it with a shimmer mist (also hard to capture in a photo).  I foam mounted that onto a white panel which was layered on a matching red cardstock.  Added 3 shiny red sequins and a few smaller sparkling clear ones and called it done. 

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Noel

This is my fourth card for the Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking Challenge.  I used the holly image from the Holiday Pine Branches set, stamped (in SSS beanstalk green) to radiate out from my gold embossed sentiment.  I filled in the gaps with great pops of red using one of the berry stamps.  I used my Versamark pen to ink up the open part of the berry and embossed that in gold to match the sentiment.  A strip of gold foil paper across the bottom adds to the shine.

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Peace Joy & Love

Today I have my third card I am entering in to the Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking Challenge.  You can enter up to 5 cards for a chance to win a $50 Hero Arts shopping spree with free shipping.  Wouldn't that be nice to win!

After embossing some of the great images from the Holiday Pine Branches set, I watercolored the entire piece with peeled paint, shabby shutters and pine needles distress inks.  The sentiment (from Joy to the World) was stamped with aged mahogany distress ink.

I am so not a wonky panel person, but I thought it suited it to be layered with a rich burgundy cardstock set at a jaunty angle before being mounted on a cream card base.

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Fuzzy Peace

I have a card for Merry Monday today.  The theme is Red and Gold.  I made some Joy cards (pictured below) about a month ago but had never used them in a challenge so I figured I'd CASE myself and add some gold to suit the challenge.  The gold comes from some Heidi Swapp gold color shine flicked onto my cardstock and a strip of gold foil paper across the bottom.  The red swoop and die cut are from some beautiful bright red velvet paper so this card has some great texture to it.  The curve of the red reminds me of earth and the gold speckles, stars in the sky.

Making multiples of this card is super easy.  Just cut a rectangle of red  the width of your card base and about 2 inches tall (or however tall you want it).  I cut the swoop with a curved die but you can freehand cut the curve.  Use one side on one card and the other on a second.  On the Joy card I curved the sentiment on my block to match the curve of the red paper.
Unfortunately my photos don't do them justice.

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Oh What Fun

            

Okay...I really got my sparkle on with this card!  Since I still had the Freshly Fallen set on my desk, I put it to use again.  I second generation stamped the solid circles (SSS Lots of Dots) in Hawaiian Shores, Lime Green (it's looking a little yellow in the photo) and Hibiscus Burst then stamped the snowflake image in matching full strength colors.  The mini dotted circles and sentiment are embossed with SSS silver ep.  The sparkly silver background paper is fabulously festive and to subtly add to the sparkle I put some clear Wink of Stella inside each of the snowflakes.

Challenges I am entering:

Freshly Made Sketches
Time Out - Christmas with a twist of pink and/or purple
SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes
Christmas Card Challenge #47 - Anything goes
Just Add Ink - W=Winter & Wow it's sparkly!

Even though the images (PTI) and sentiment (Penny Black) are from Christmas sets, I totally think this would make a great baby shower invite, baby card, or pregnancy/birth announcement.

 
Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

Heart of Gold

This week the cue card over at CASology is Heart.  I need a break from making Christmas cards so this is perfect!

This card came together very quickly, even though it's totally different than what I thought I was going to make!  The heart is from Fancy Thanks (Essentials by Ellen) stamped in pure poppy.  The foiling was done by applying a strip of score tape across the card then laying gold foil over the tape.  The sentiment is from the Fancy Thanks set as well.

 

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

May your Days...

I've been using more of a new Hero Arts Christmas set.  I've been loving a bright green and teal color palette for Christmas this year so I used those colors to make some bright, happy trees.

I splattered some Heidi Swapp color shine sprays onto the backgound then used my zig brush pens to color in the white embossed trees.  The sentiment stamped in black completes this simple but happy card!

I'm putting this in for the Hero Arts Holiday card making challenge and Freshly Made sketches.

ETA:  Wow, so happy to be chosen by Linda as a princess (one of the winners) over at Freshly Made Sketches!

         

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

PTI October blog hop

I'm happy to join in on PTI's october Blog Hop.  I took inspiration from the shiny ornaments, the red twine, the cardboard on the bottom of the box and the wooden table the box rests on.

I die cut the snowflakes from red, green and silver paper then adding glossy accents to the red and green ones.  I attached some stick-it to a piece of vellum and die cut Peace from it - it makes it so easy to attach and you can't see it through the vellum.  I looped some red twine through the flakes and tied it around some kraft card stock that had been stamped with a wooden image with Versamark.

                                                                          

                                                    

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

YOU are remarkable

Have you seen the new look of the CASology website?  It's CAS perfection!  

This week the cue card is YOU. I have had this SSS die for quite a while and I don't think I've used it yet.  I've paired it with a SSS sentiment from Hand Lettered Encouragement for a great masculine card.

I stamped the sentiment (with the 'you' masked off) in versamark onto some kraft card stock.  Next, I ran the die through my cuttlebug using an embossing pad to get just the impression of the word. Then came gold embossing powder and a strip of gold foil along the bottom (always hard to photograph for me).  

Okay, you have to tell me if it's just me.  If I kind of focus on the top left of the picture it looks debossed then if I blink and look more to the lower right it looks embossed. Weird!

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen

May Your Holidays Sparkle

The code word at Addicted to CAS is Sparkle this week.  I got to work with a new Hero Arts set to make this card.  I stamped a portion of one of the string of lights facing each other on a stitched rectangle cut from plain cardstock.  I overstamped the  lightbulbs using a stamp from PTI's snowflake flurries with lime green and hawaiian shores ink to make the bulbs glow.  I filled the bulbs themselves with glitter glue for some extra sparkle.  I nested that piece into a frame of gold foil cardstock and mounted the whole thing on a lime colored cardstock.

This will also go in for the Holiday Card Making Challenge over at Hero Arts which is on until Nov 12th and Inkspirational where the word prompt is glow.


                       

Thanks so Much for Looking!
Karen