*AAACards #150*

Happy Sunday everyone... time for another challenge over at the AAACards Blog!  I think my favourite thing about this challenge blog is that they rotate through a grouping of main ideas but that there is an optional twist with each challenge as well.  For this challenge, you are encouraged to make a one layer card (no embellishments, no die cuts) with the optional theme of Fall.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Winnie & Walter.

I received these Gina K skeleton leaves stamps a few weeks ago and was excited to ink them up.

I don't do a lot of stamp layering, but this card needed more than just one leaf so I masked off the maple leaf so that the other leaf would look as though it was behind it.  I coloured the leaves using Distress Inks, water and a paintbrush.  I added some sparkle to the leaves with the new Lawn Fawn Glitter Pen.

Items Used:
*Carstock:  white from the local print shop
*Images:  Gina K; Simon Says Stap
*Ink:  Gina K Amalgam; Versafine Clair Nocturne; Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple
*Etc:  Lawn Fawn Glitter Pen; paint brush

We look forward to seeing your fall interpretations of a one layer card!  Enter your card on the AAA Cards Website for your chance to be like Joy and be featured as a guest designer in an upcoming challenge!

*MFT Impact Alphabet*

Let me tell you how much I LOVE this MFT Impact Alphabet die set. When it was released a few months ago, I ordered it as soon as I could. It's a great size for card making in my opinion, and the letters are a great shape. I've been having fun with them and am always looking for new ideas too.

Today I am sharing a super clean and simple card using this great die set. This card so easily could have been a one layer card, however I always like the little pop of colour you get with a 1/16" reveal under the top layer

I started out by cutting out the letter B from some My Favorite Things patterned paper. I put it on the top layer of my card using foam adhesive to add a little dimension. I used two word stamps from the Lawn Fawn Happy Happy Happy stamp set and set them up in my stamp positioner so that I could get them stamped where I wanted them instead of trying desperately to get them both straight. I am in love with the Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink for sentiments! I then matted it all on a purple piece of cardstock before layering it all on to a white card. I added a couple of clear gems to finish off the card.


I'd love to see what *you* create with the MFT Impact Alphabet!!

*Rainbow of Happy*

I am so sorry for the lack of posts over the last week.  On my days off last week I was fighting a cold bug and the aches in my body just wouldn't let me sit at my desk to create.  I was able to find some time today and thankfully a little creativity flowed as well... so I can share a card with you today.

Sadly, the photo doesn't look as good they have been looking lately... it's almost washed out.  I hope I can figure out what I did differently so I can go back to having better looking photos.

Once again, I was cardstock that was on my desk to create... so you've seen these colours together before. 

I started by cutting out the happy word in multiple colours and I did my best to lay them out straight... but something happened with that red one and it bugs me that it's wonky.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  assorted from my stash
*Images:  Avery Elle Sentimental Too
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne
*Dies:  Avery Elle Sentimental Too
*Tools:  Big Shot; Perfect Layers Tool

*Another Rainbow Birthday*

Today I am sharing another card that uses scraps that I had left on my craft desk.  The original card I made can be seen here....  and the second card I made can be seen here.... and this is the third and final card using this rainbow!

I'm so happy I didn't waste any of this great circle rainbow I created....

Items Used
*Cardstock:  assorted cardstock from my stash; Stampin' Up! Basic Black; Neenah Solar White
*Images:  Lawn Fawn Happy Happy Happy
*Ink:  VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Dies:  MFT Stitched Circles; Hello Bluebird Happy Birthday Words
*Tools:  Big Shot; Perfect Layers Tool

*CASology #352*

Welcome to another challenge with the CASology Team!  For the next two weeks, we are looking for your cards using your favourite dragonfly images and dies!  Please share your creations with us at the CASology Blog for your chance to become a guest designer for an upcoming challenge!

I love dragonflies... I think they are so very beautiful... and it certainly doesn't hurt that they eat mosquitoes!!!

I started with an alcohol ink background on the Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Paper.  Once it was dry, I cut out this beautiful dragonfly from Stampin' Up!  I stamped the sentiment on the bottom right side of the piece and then flicked Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust mixed with water across the front of the white panel.  I let it try and then used my Perfect Layers Tool to create a 1/16 black mat before putting it on to a white card.  I then added the dragonfly die cut, adhering only the main part of the body and curving up the tail and wings to create a little dimension

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black; Neenah Solar White; Alcohol Ink Silver Sparkle
*Images:  Stampin' Up Lovely Friends
*Dies:  Stampin' Up Detailed Dragonfly Thinlets
*Ink:  Alcohol Pearls in Tranquil and Intrigue; VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Tools:  Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tool
*Etc:  Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust

Please go have a look at what the rest of the design team has created using the DRAGONFLY cue.

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet 

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Karen Haman

Melissa Chipperfield

Milka Gubo

Nancy Elrick  -- you are here

Sue Symens

*AAA #149*

Welcome to another challenge with AAA Cards.... as always, we love to play with Clean and Simple cards... the more plain, unaltered space, the better!

For this challenge, we will be choosing one person who plays along with us to win a £15 gift certificate from Funky Fossil Designs!!  That person will also be invited to be a guest designer with us at a later date.

Our guest designer for this challenge is JOY... please go have a look at her blog!

I decided to do both the prompt and the optional twist for this challenge... so up to one third (using up to one third of the card) and an inlaid die.

I love this Simon Says Stamp Sensational Snowflake Collage die.  I cut out out the bottom of a white panel that was cut to fit the front of my card.  I then cut it out again using a dark blue shimmer cardstock.  I adhered the white cut out piece on to the front of my card and then placed the background cut out blue pieces in to the holes that were left on the white card.  I added the word JOY from the Poppy Stamps Art Deco Celebrate Christmas set, stamped in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink.  I wanted to add some gems to the centres of the snowflakes but decided that it would be too much for such a clean and simple design.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  dark blue shimmer; Neenah Solar White
*Stamps:  Poppy Stamps Art Deco Celebrate Christmas
*Inks:  VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Dies:  Simon Says Stamp Sensational Snowflake Collage
*Tools:  Big Shot

*Colour Drops*

I love playing with the GinaK Wreath Builder in my Misti... but never know what to do with the finished product as I hardly ever make a square card.  So this time, I decided to play and just go ahead and make a square card.  I don't know what I have against square cards... but I hardly ever make them.

This card is pretty straight forward... I used a rainbow of ink colours from Catherine Pooler and the MFT Color Drops stamp set in my Misti with the GinaK Wreath Builder.  I used a piece of pink cardstock and the Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiments Banner die to cut out a white embossed sentiment.  I also added a pop of pink as a layer using my Perfect Layers Tool.  While I love the Clean and Simple look, I also love having that pop of colour using a 1/16" matte behind my main panel.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White; unknown pink
*Images:  MFT Color Drops; MFT Essential Sentiments
*Inks:  Catherine Pooler Be Mine, Rockin' Red, Orange Twist, Tiara, Lime Rickey, All That Jazz, Suede Shoes, Grape Crush; VersaMark
*Dies:  Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners
*Tools:  GinaK Wreath Builder; Big Shot; Misti; Perfect Layers Tool; heat tool
*Etc:  white embossing powder

*Happy Friday the 13th*

Hey All... here to let you know about a sale at Scrap'n Stamp for the next 24 hours!!!! 

*Lawn Fawn Flippin' Awesome*

With the new Lawn Fawn release, I found myself completely drawn to the Flippin' Awesome die. Honestly, I don't know why. I have made waterfall cards in the past with the use of a die (just good old math, a ruler and a scoring tool). I don't do a lot of interactive cards. But here I was, wanting that die set.

So I bought it. I tell you, I have no will power.

This is the very first card I made with the Flippin' Awesome set... there are things I can improve on, but still, I am happy with the results.

Lawn Fawn Flippin' Awesome dies with MFT Picture Perfect stamps

I started out by stamping out three images from the My Favorite Things Picture Perfect stamp set with Gina K Amalgam ink. I then coloured them with my Copics, doing the best I could to create some different shades.

I used the square die from the Flippin' Awesome set to cut out my three coloured panels and then got started on the waterfall mechanism.

If you head to YouTube and search for Lawn Fawn Flippin' Awesome you will find some great videos that will how you how easy it is to put this waterfall mechanism together on a card.

I used the scallop die from the Lawn Fawn Flippin' Awesome Add On die set to cut out the MFT Over the Rainbow patterned paper and also the little decorative pull tab. To finish off the card I used some sentiment stamps from the Lawn Fawn Simply Celebrate and the MFT Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings 2 sets with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

I have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head about other images to use with this die set... with the Add On set I also have the tools to make this a gift card holder... I can see using that at Christmas!


I'd love to see what you create with this fun new set!

*Pinterest Roulette*

Last week I was struggling in my craft space.  I really wanted to create but I didn't know what I wanted to do.  I was scrolling through my Pinterest board of cards and honestly just felt overwhelmed with all of the ideas I had pinned there.  I didn't have a clue where to start.

So I invented a new game for myself... Pinterest Roulette.  First, I chose a number between 1 and 5 (the number of cards across on my screen).  I then closed my eyes and did a big fast scroll through Pinterest.  I then found the card in the column I had chosen first and realized it was one of my own cards, so I tried again.  This time I came up with a card from Mel's Card Corner.  I bought a new stencil from Paper & Ink Boutique a while ago so I pulled it out and made this card.

Thanks for the inspiration Melissa!

Items Used
*Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White; Stampin' Up! Basic Black
*Ink:  Catherine Pooler All That Jazz; VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Stamps:  Alte New Weekend Doodles
*Tools:  Gina K Mega Flower stencil; Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blending Brushes; Perfect Layers Tools

*Watercolour Wishes*

Happy Friday Everyone!!!  As it is the first Friday of the month, the Scrap'n Stamp Design Team is hosting our monthly blog hop.  For September, our hop theme is WATERCOLOUR WISHES.  We hope you will share your watercolour creations on the SnS Challenge FB page.

Along with the blog hop, head on over to the Scrap'n Stamp Facebook page and share your watercolour creations during our Watercolour Wonder Challenge!

I had a lot of ideas in my head, but decided to play with a technique using my Tombow markers.  Almost everyone knows that you can pick up the ink from a Tombow with a wet brush and paint with them... but I wanted to do something a little different.

For this card, I started with a square of watercolour paper, three shades of blue Tombow markers, an acrylic block and a mini mister full of water.

I took the markers and scribbled directly on to the round acrylic block.  I overlapped the colours and put as much colour down on to the block as I could.  It was a little difficult as I couldn't really see the lighter colours.  Once I had a lot of colour down, I spritzed the block well with the mini spritzer.

I then put the acrylic block down on the water colour paper, inked side down...

... and put a mug full of pends and pencils down on top of it.  I set it aside for about 5 minutes.  Leaving it sit for several minutes means that the colours are darker as they soak in to the watercolour paper more.

After the 5 minutes, this is what the watercolour paper looked like.  I used a paper towel to soak up the excess liquid and set it aside to dry.

Once it was dry, I used some Lawn Fawn Liquid Shimmer and water and a paintbrush to spatter some shimmery dots all over the watercolour paper.

And here you see my final card.... I made it in to a Christmas thank you card. I used a white cardstock for the snowflake, added a blue layer with a 1/16" reveal and then put it all on to a cream coloured 4" card.  I stamped a small "thanks" in the bottom corner of the watercolour paper.  Once I had it all together I decided to add some more sparkle to the card by painting some of the Liquid Shimmer on to the die cut snowflake.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Gina K Ivory; Lawn Fawn Mermaid
*Paper: Watercolour paper
*Ink:  Tombow markers; VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Dies:  Memory Box Telluride Snowflake (I cut off the "chain")
*Tools:  acrylic block; mini mister; paint brush;
*Etc:  Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust

Please check out the rest of the stops on the Blog Hop... leave a comment at each stop as we'll be doing a random draw to choose one commenter to win a $50 gift card to Scrap'n Stamp.  The winner will be announced on the Scrap'n Stamp blog on September 18th

Here's the links for the entire hop....

Tara

Chala

Nancy E

Laurie

Nancy F

Sandi

Kia

Deb

Susan

*CASology #351*

Welcome to challenge #351 on the CASology Blog!!!  This challenge is all about having fun... it's an LOL Challenge!!  Time to ink up those stamps that make you giggle and share them!

Be sure to check out what the design team has come up for this challenge as well as seeing what our guest designer, Cathy R, did.  I hope you get a good giggle out of some of these creations!

We all look forward to seeing what you come up with using this cue card.... I, for one, look forward to have some good giggles!

I was excited to haul out my Impact Alphabet dies to create this card.  I have put off buying a large alphabet die set for a lot of years but fell in love with the shape and size of this set and bought them almost as soon as they hit the Scrap'n Stamp store

 Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White
*Paper:  My Favorite Things Over the Rainbow
*Ink:  VersaFine Clair Nocturne
*Stamps:  MFT Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings 2
*Dies:  MFT Impact Alphabet, Impact Numbers
*Tools:  Gina K Connect Glue; Big Shot

Please go have a look at what the rest of the design team has created using the LOL cue.

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet 

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Karen Haman

Melissa Chipperfield

Milka Gubo

Nancy Elrick  -- you are here

Sue Symens

*AAA #148*

Welcome to the latest clean and simple challenge for AAA Cards.  For the next two weeks, the challenge is a sketch with the optional twist of animals.

Here's the sketch we are playing with.... you are welcome to flip the sketch in any direction.  Please remember to keep as much clean space as you can on your card... areas without embossing or embellishment or stamping.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Crafty Scrappers...

I had fun playing with a rainbow for my card.  I could have very easily made this a one layer card but I decided that I wanted to add a pop of black to the card with a thin border.

To colour the unicorn, I used a Tombow Blender Pen to pick up the colours from the lids of the Catherine Pooler inks.  I also used a paintbrush, a little water and the Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust to add some great shimmer to the colourful parts of the unicorn.

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up Black; Neenah Solar Crest
*Inks:  Catherine Pooler Samba, Orange Twist, Limoncello, Lime Rickey, Something Borrowed, Pixie Dust; VersaFine Clair Nocturne; Tombow Markers
*Stamps:  Gerda Steiner Designs Moody Unicorns, Dachshunds
*Dies:  Gerda Steiner Designs Moody Unicorns
*Tools:  Perfect Layers Tool; Xacto Knife; Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blending Brushes
*Etc:  Tombow Blender Pen; Lawn Fawn Liquid Stardust; foam dots