Less is More in Metallics

Metallics are the theme of this week's Less is More challenge.  I was excited to use my new Coliro mica watercolors, and I wasn't disappointed.  I'll be looking for all sorts of images to paint in metallics now.  The image is "Sunny" from Penny Black; the sentiment is from River City Rubberworks (a very old sentiment).  

Three Little Inchies

A few years ago, I played with inchies frequently.  I even had a few sheets of inchie stamps, but those are long gone.  For the CAS Mix Up in September, Inchies are the thing!  

I tried some new metallic watercolor paints on cardstock and then stamped a background image and heat embossed it.  Using my old Stampin' Up punch, I created the inches and layered them on black cardstock.  The front layer of my card was dry-embossed with one of the (more than 100) embossing folders in my craft room; I stacked the inchies and then applied a one-word diecut as the sentiment.  

Inchies+dry embossing+stamping+heat embossing+diecut+punch

Circle Round for Sunday Stamps

The sketch for this week's Sunday Stamps led me in just a tiny bit of another direction.  And for some reason, I was in the "metallic gold" mood.  On the way back across Oregon this past weekend, we stopped mid-way as we always do, in The Dalles.  I decided I also wanted to visit Joann's for some cardstock colors I needed.  Imagine walking into a sale!  70% off sheets of cardstock and at least 40% off other papers, etc. One of my purchases was a DCWV mat stack that has pages of gold foil.  I used one of those pages for this card and cut the rectangle for the image/sentiment out of gold, as well. 

Less is More with One Layer of Stencils

Time to catch up again after being gone for almost two weeks... I'll start with the dreaded One Layer Card for Less is More.  (I've found that I usually enjoy the challenge of a OLC, even though it doesn't always work for me!)   The stencil is one from The Crafter's Workshop and I used Distress Oxide inks.  (Ths faint shadows are from the screen on the window that provides the light.)

Less is More Color Challenge

I love this Stampotique flower and chose it for the current Less is More color challenge.  I used Altenew watercolors to color the image and added an old Stampers Anonymous sentiment.  I drew the border with a scrapbooking pen. 

Celebration at Freshly Made Sketches

A month of celebration at Freshly Made Sketches begins with Sketch #1 from 8 years ago.

My first thought for this sketch was the shape....I have many flowers that I rarely use anymore, but I also have some Prima butterflies--glitzy butterflies.  So I chose one and tried some cardstock, but abandoned it for this dark teal butterfly.  The papers are also Prima, from a 6x6 paper stack called Firefly. From there, it was choosing which portion of the patterned paper to use for the "boxes."  The sentiment is from a Power Poppy clear set of magnolias. 

Catching Up with Card Challenges

Having been basically inactive in the craft room for weeks, I'm in the mood to catch up.

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I love making backgrounds; it might be my favorite part of card-making.  This Paper Towel technique for CAS Mix Up is so much fun, and I can see it becoming a go-to.  I had to make my own "inky towel" by spraying Distress Sprays on the towel.  The image is an old favorite from Paperbag Studios, who closed more than a year ago.  For the "extra" I cut some tiny hearts out of the inked cardstock to apply. The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp set. 

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The next card is for CAS(E) this Sketch.  

I decided to make this card a masculine one; I rarely make them, but can use one now and then. 

The card center was die cut from a piece of heavy printed cardstock with a postage stamp die  nd the "shaded" sentiment is from MemoryBox. 

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The third and final card for today's post is a "Fusion" challenge. 

I am creatively challenged by photo suggestions for a card design.  My brain doesn't work that way!  That means that I choose the "default" image nearly all the time.  It was no different with this particular challenge.  I did have some fun with the DSP from a Kaiser craft paper pad.  The diecut sentiment is from an unnamed collection of words. 

Colorful Butterflies with Some Sparkle

When I'm ready to post a card, I stop and ask myself, "Is this a CAS card?"  I hope so.  For this month's CAS Watercolour challenge, I painted colorful butterflies and also created some dimension. The stamp is an old one from Hampton Art Stamps.  I used Altenew watercolors to paint the butterflies and then stamped and painted a second set to pop up on the card front.  There is a lot of sparkle on the butterflies with clear Wink of Stella. "Scatter joy" is a very old foam stamp...I wish a company would make a wooden one in the same font.

A Trio for Sunday Stamps

The tiny coffee cup dies determined my theme of "coffee" for this Sunday Stamps sketch. I enjoy using patterned paper from my stash of 6x6 paper pads, and this is the latest addition.  It's Echo Park's "Magical Adventures 2."  The sentiment is from Altenew's "Coffee with a Splash," and the mini cups are from a Sizzix Framelits set called "But First Coffee."  

A Sketch

I am rushing in to beat the deadline, which means photographing the card under artificial light.  A card with rose gold accents.  It did not go well.  The Cas(e) this sketch deadline is early tomorrow morning, PST.  

A few months ago, I found this beautiful 6x6 paper pad at Hobby Lobby.  It's from My Mind's Eye and is called "Blush."   I love each and every piece!  Unfortunately, the metallic rose gold doesn't photograph well.  The card base is dark navy, as is the sentiment; they are only slightly darker than the background of the dotted paper used for the vertical trim. "Smile" is a die from Intricutz. 

A Bouquet of Poppies

Watercolor markers and a little Wink of Stella for some shine decorate this card for CAS Watercolour in July.  The poppies are Penny Black's cling stamp and the sentiment is from Stampabilities. 

Less is More -- Small

It has been a long time since I've made a card...life was just too busy (our 2-year-old granddaughter's bed was in my craft room for 4 days, too) and I couldn't get started. 

My "re-start" in crafting is for Less is More.

I chose DSP from a Glitz pad called "French Kiss."  The image and sentiment are both old ones...2005, in fact.  The woman is from Art Impressions and the sentiment from River City Rubber Works.  I had to gently sand the sentiment to get it to take ink, for some reason.  

Floral Background

This is a card that is nearly impossible to photograph...that's the result of gold embossing! This month's Flower Challenge is to emphasize the flower as the background.  I chose the Large Poppy from Technique Junkies, stamped and embossed in gold.  Then I watercolored the poppies, using an aqua brush.  "Imagine" is from my growing collection of word dies, cut from metallic gold cardstock, which was also used to frame the flower layer.   

Bluesy Gnomes

This CAS Watercolor challenge was a good opportunity to ink up my second stamp set from Stamping Bella, "Gnome Pile."  I watercolored with various blue shades of Twinkling H2O's and framed them with dies from Kat Scrappiness. 

Freshly Made with Asian Inspiration

Several years ago, I often created cards that were Asian-inspired. I still have a drawerful of Asian stamps.  Once I decided to use Fuji Woman, I also chose a piece of black and metallic gold washi paper from an old stash.  That determined the black and gold theme, including gold heat embossing.  The Asian symbol is an old Stampin' Up image.  All worked together for this week's Freshly Made Sketches. 

Color Throwdown 545 as Guest Star Stamper

It's amazing how the color palette colors change, depending on the printer.  However, my raspberry is a little brighter.  I pulled out my Twinkling H2O's for the painting, just to achieve the brightness that I wanted.  For this challenge, I purchased digi stamps from Vera Lane Studios on Etsy.  The kraft card front is further accented with kraft DSP featuring Live, Love, Laugh, and Life.  Color Throwdown 545

My First "Two-fer" Challenge

                                      

This is my very first card made to meet TWO challenges at once.  To be honest, it's all because of the flower.  I stamped it on paper that I thought would work with Color Throwdown 543, but just couldn't create what I wanted.  Then I decided to work on the Double D Challenge of "frames," and discovered that I could combine the two challenges!   The flower is a large Hero Arts cling stamp, which I stamped on patterned paper and then paper-pieced for some pattern variety and dimension. The frames are Wacky Stitched Rectangles from Cottage Cutz and the sentiment on gray is from Wordsworth.  The blue card front was dry embossed.

Freshly Made in Black and White

I like making black and white cards, and I chose that color combo for the Freshly Made Sketch 388 after deciding on the panel for the center.  It's from a piece of specialty cardstock from Ellen Hutson. The large "Smile" from Couture Creations serves perfectly for the horizontal focal piece. 

Sunday Stamps Sketch

This is one of those cards that tested me, in spite of the simple sketch provided by Sunday Stamps.  I thought I had a good idea, but it flopped.  Then another flopped.  I settled on a great flower stamp from Stampotique, which I watercolored and then fussy cut.  I adhered the flower to the dry-embossed card front and then added the "imagine" die cut from Penny Black. 

"Happy" CAS Colors and Sketches

I have this stack of sea-green double-sided papers that I love!  I don't recall where I bought them, but I know I wish I could find more.  I chose some of the designs for the CAS Colors & Sketches Challenge.  The flower is a stamp and die from Mama Elephant's "Secret Garden" set, and "happy" is a layered die from Memory Box.