*CASology #392*

Welcome to challenge #392 with CASology!  We are a group of clean and simple loving card makers who not only love to share what we create but also see what others want to share with us!  With every challenge, we encourage you to play along and share your creations with us for your chance to be a guest designer in an upcoming challenge!

So get out your card making supplies and start creating your clean and simple card using the cue of STRENGTH!  Don't forget to share it with us HERE!

I came up with my main idea for the card and then went through several sentiments to make my card "strength"...  this wasn't the perfect shape and fit, but it was the perfect words...

Items Used

*Cardstock:  Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White 110lb

*Patterned Paper:  Stampin' Up! Pattern Party

*Images:  Altenew Bouquet of Love, Sincere Greetings

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Embellishments:  Studio Katia Arctic Breeze Pearls

*Tools:  Misti

*2016 Christmas Cards #25*

I love it when cards in your head turn out when you finally get around to playing!

I saw this great Simon Says Stamp stamp and I *had* to have it....  so very very pretty!

For this card, I used some assorted snowflake stamps from my stash to create the background on Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake cardstock using white craft ink.  I set it aside for a day to dry fully before finishing the card.  I used my Mini Misti for the Simon Says Stamp greeting to ensure I got a good deep and solid red impression of the greeting on top of the snowflakes using Red Brilliance ink.  I layered a piece of Real Red Stampin' Up cardstock behind the panel and put it all on to a side fold Crumb Cake card.

And of course, I had to add some sparkle to the card... I added some bling to the centres of some of the snowflakes.

*2016 Christmas Cards #23*

I'm not sure about this card yet.... I saw one like it on Pinterest and I wanted to try it.  I cut out two of the Impression Obsession snowflakes in white and glued them on the bottom right of a white card.  I cut the word "greetings" out of silver paper using the Tim Holtz script holiday set.  I then used my Mini Misti to perfectly place (and mask) the word Holiday... it was part of a saying from a Lawn Fawn set so I had to remove the "S" at the end of the word as well as the rest of the greeting.

Now, I will admit I fudged up a bit....  when I went to stamp the word Holiday, I started to put the lid of the Mini Misti down and realized just a tad too late that I forgot to remove the tape masks I put on while inking... so that gem on the left side is to try to hid a little black ink that got on the card.

Oops!

*2016 Christmas Cards #22*

When I first saw this Stampin' Up Stamp Set and tree punch, I thought "why bother?"....  but then I started seeing cards done with it and I *had* to have it.  And I truly do love that it is so versatile!  You can use the stamps without the punch, the punch without the stamps... and if you google it or search on Pinterest, there are SO many ideas!

For this card, I used a piece of red on red patterned paper from an old 6X6 pad I had laying around.  I used my Mini Misti to help me not only place the red baubles on the trees perfectly, but to stamp and restamp the green tree to ensure I got a good inking each time.  I added the Lawn Fawn greeting from Scrap'n Stamp in Rocket Red Brilliance ink.  The tree in the front is popped out with pop dots for some dimension.

*2016 Christmas Cards #18*

I am so thrilled with how this card turned out!!

I started with the strip... it was white.  I used a sponge dauber with whatever blue ink was left on it and sponged up the front a little.  I then sprinkled this thick embossing powder (by thick, I mean the grains are different sizes, and some of them are large) that I think is by Stampenous on the front and heated it from the back to create the look of snow falling.  I used my Perfect Layers Tool to create the black Matte and attached it all to the card from.  I used my Mini Misti to ensure I got the placement of the Lawn Fawn sentiment.  I cut the Telluride Snowflake from white glimmer cardstock and attached it to the front with a pop dot.

*2016 Christmas Cards #13*

So quick and easy... and I even used a patterned paper that I thought I didn't like.  This was a green and silver glitter paper from a stack I bought at Michaels last year... and as a whole sheet, I truly dislike it a lot.  But as a little accent as a matte (using my Perfect Layers Tool of course), I love it!

I also used the Mini Misti again... I used masking and the tool to create the multi-coloured sentiment.

*2016 Christmas Cards #12*

I played again!  I had fun with this stamp and die set from Honey Bee Stamps.  I also used a Lawn Fawn stamp set and a die from the Tim Holtz Holiday Words set.  Once again, I used the Mini Misti to get exact placement of the stamp on the die cut piece.

*2016 Christmas Cards #11*

This was my first attempt at using a stamp and die set... or at least the first attempt in a long time.  The last stamp and die sets I bought were flowers by Heartfelt Creations and the dies were solid metal which made them difficult to use.  I love these new thin dies that are simply the design outline and nothing more.  I wasn't perfectly centred, but I was close.

One thing I did with this card is I finally used the Mini Misti I bought from Scrap'n Stamp.  I used it to make sure I got a nice clear and dark image for the penguin.  So many times I stamp something and don't get a good impression.  So with the Mini Misti I was able to stamp and stamp and stamp again to get it good and black.

I also used the Mini Misti to help me position the stamp on the die...  I cut the die first and put the scrap in to the Mini Misti.  I put the stamp in the hole it had created and then picked up the stamp with the lid.  I then put the die cut piece back in to the hole and stamped the image.