*Addicted to CAS #317*

 It's a circles themed challenge at Addicted to CAS!  How will you use circles in your clean and simple design?

I chose to do some ink blending in my favourite colours... I kept the ink blending rather light to keep it from being too overwhelming.

Card Info

*Stamps:  Pinkfresh Studio Happy Birthday Sentiments

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne; Tim Holtz Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Shaded Lilac

*Stencils:  Paper Rose Studio Bubbles

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  ATCAS #317

*Addicted to CAS #316*

Happy Saturday, my friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS!  This is one is right up my alley since purple is my favourite colour!

I started with a stencil and did a light coloured ink blending over it to create a little pattern in my background.  I die cut the leaf die out of two shades of purple and layered them on to the card front.

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather

*Stamps:  Pinkfresh Studio Happy Birthday Sentiments

*Ink:  Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grape; Memento Tuxedo Black

*Stencil:  Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set #13

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Fern and Flora

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  ATCAS #316

*Rainbow Connection Instagram Hop*

 I'm here today sharing my card for the Rainbow Connection Instagram Hop.  We are a group of rainbow colour lovers that post a happy rainbow coloured card each month.

Have you ever made a card and just not liked it?  And then you have another idea and it works out perfectly?  This is my card today.  I had thought about sharing the one I didn't like as well as the one I liked a lot, but instead of glued my piece on top of the old card and made the decision that no one would ever see the other one.

How it started was me using the stencils for the stamp I used and using rainbow colours, one per stencil layer.  And it looked terrible!  So instead I did some ink blending on a piece of cardstock and stamped on top of it instead.

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black

*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions Birthday; Altenew Gracious Peonies

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne; Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean
*Dies:  Altenew Gracious Peonies; The Ton Easy Expressions Birthday

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*This or That Instagram Hop*

 This week on the This or That Instagram Hop, we are choosing between "top" or "bottom".  I chose to keep my design on the top half of my card.  I did this card as white on white... I am almost as obsessed with white on white as I am with that new paper I've been using LOL!

Card Info

*Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp Clean Line Christmas

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  unknown

*Embossing:  Tim Holtz Snowfall

*Addicted to CAS #271*

It's a snowy challenge at Addicted to CAS, and I was excited to play with it!  You know me and love of all things snowflake (unless it's actually snowing... then not so much!)

There are a lot of ways I could have gone with this theme, but I settled on a mostly monochromatic card.  I had to add a little sparkle, of course!

Card Info

*Cardstock: unknown silver glitter

*Stamps:  Mama Elephant Jingle Greetings
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Embossing:  Sizzix/Tim Holtz

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  Addicted to CAS #271; Simply Clean and Simple

*Addicted to CAS #257*

 It's a "Smile" themed challenge at Addicted to CAS...  

and I went super clean and simple with my card...

Card Info

*Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean

*Dies:  Elizabeth Craft Designs Lacy Leaves; MFT Double the Smiles

*Challenges:  Addicted to CAS #257

*Less is More #477*

We've got a colour challenge at Less is More...  we want you to use at least two colours from the colour wheel!

I chose purple and blue and created a snowflake!  You know I love snowflakes, right?

Card Info

*Images:  Simon Says Stamp Christmas Blessings

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne; Tim Holtz Wilted Violet and Salty Ocean

*Stencils:  Gina K Stellar Snowflake

*Embellishments:  Picket Fence Studios Day & Night Gem Mix

*Challenge:  Less is More #477

*Christmas Craft Creations White on White*

I'm here with a great theme for October with Christmas Craft Creations.  A white on white card can be very difficult to achieve.  The keys to white on white are texture and dimension.

I *really* wanted to add a sentiment to my card but I didn't like how my white embossing powder looked with the design I had already done... so I used my clean and simple thoughts and just let it be.  I am in love with the simplicity of this card.  I used a Sizzix Switchlet (Winter Snowflakes) that cuts and embosses at the same time as well as a Tim Holtz embossing folder to create my falling snow.  I put this smaller panel on to a white card base to create a frame.

*Wish Big*

I feel like this card is a bit of a stretch for me.  Something about the composition of it makes it not feel quite like something I would normally product.  Once again I was trying to use up some extra die cuts from my bin (the flower and the leaf sprig) and I really wanted them to be the stars of the show.  I messed a bit with inking the flower (a little heavy in one spot) but such is life.

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Old Olive

*Images:  Pink Fresh Studio Happy Birthday Sentiments

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne:  Catherine Pooler Flame, Glitz

*Dies:  Stampin' Up Splendid Stems, Pierced Blooms

*Stencils:  Tim Holtz

*Embellishments:  Picket Fence Studio Day & Night Gem Mix

*SnS Slimsational Cards Blog Hop*

 Happy New Year, Craft Friends!!!  I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season, despite restrictions and whatever else might be going on in your part of the world.  2021 will start the same as 2020 left off, but I think we are all hopeful for how the year will play out.  

All I know for sure is that I plan on being crafty!  Maybe not as much as in 2020, but as much as I can!  I look forward to going to crops again, crafting with friends... I've really missed that.  Zoom craft days are OK but never quite the same as being in the same room.

It is the first Friday of the month so the gals from the Scrap 'n Stamp Design Team are here with our first Blog Hop of 2021!  We have all been playing with the Slimline Die System from Picket Fence Studios.  I have made slimline cards in the past, I'm talking many years ago, but they aren't always my favourite to create.  The idea of them has taken off in the last several months and many of the big companies have come out with products that make the process (and measurements) a little easier.  I will definitely try to make some more now that I have this great die set!

Please be sure to leave a comment on each stop on the hop (listed below) for your chance to win your own Picket Fence Slimline Die Cutting System from Scrap 'n Stamp Canada!!!  In addition, place an order to celebrate the new year and use the code "finally 2021" for 21% off your regularly priced items!!

I paired this die set with some stamps and dies by My Favorite Things... and came up with this card....

A few steps as to how I created this card using the products I have on hand...  I started with a top folding card that was cut to 8.5"X 7" and scored it at 3.5".  This size of card is the standard for slimline I think... and fits easily in a business envelope.  I then used the one die in the set to cut a piece of grey cardstock as a layer on the front.  I was worried that I might need the longer plates for my Big Shot but I didn't.  It just barely fit.  Next time I'd probably use some purple tape and secure the die to the cardstock and cut it twice, flipping the piece around to start the second pass where the first pass ended, just to ensure I got a clean cut (I had to do a little surgery with a craft knife and ruler).  

I then chose two different panel pieces and taped the middle circle and one of the squares to the grey piece and ran it through my Big Shot.  I placed the square piece on the other side of the card and cut it out.  I cut three white squares that were slightly bigger than the window openings and ran them through my Big Shot with a snowfall embossing folder.  I stamped up some gorgeous snowmen in Gina K Amalgam ink and coloured them simply with my Copics (I'm not good at shading but I still like how the Copics leave a nice coloured image without lines).  I cut them out with the matching dies.  I also stamped the greeting from another stamp set on a strip of white cardstock and used my Layers Guide to give it a boarder of red.  

Now it's time to assemble the card.  I started with the embossed pieces... I placed the grey panel on the card front and used a pencil to mark where the holes would be, removed the grey panel and then adhered the embossed panels to the front of the card.  I then took my greeting and adhered it to the back of the grey panel, trimming off the edges as needed to have it fit.  I then took a LOT of foam tape and went around the edges of the grey panel, around the circle in the centre and a bit on the trees.  I added a little glue to all of the foam tape so that I had a little "play time" before it was all stuck down.  Once I had it in place, I pressed it all down to make sure it was well adhered.  Finally, I took my snowmen and tucked them into the panels, behind trees where I could.  They are adhered with just glue on the embossed panels.

This card is way more involved than most cards I create...  but I really do love how it turned out!  While these products from Picket Fence helped create the slimline card, I know that there are many products in my studio that I could have used.  But let me tell you... I love that this die set took all the guess work out of making the card.  I didn't have to figure out the perfect sized squares and circles!

Please be sure to head over to see what the rest of the design team has created!  Leave a comment on each blog post in the hop for your chance to win that awesome prize from Scrap 'n Stamp Canada!

Tara

Nancy <-- you are here!

Deborah

Kia

Chala

Susan