Rainbow Birthday

 Hey Everyone!

As you can see I am sooooo done with love, well not exactly love itself, but I am done with hearts and Valentines. This weeks color challenge at Just Us Girl's was right on time. Bright cheery colors!

 I took this rather literally. The photo along with the colors inspired me. I had several false starts before this card came together and I am pleases as punch with the results.

Please join us this week at Just Us Girls for this fun and happy color challenge. I can't wait to see what you all create!

New stencil technique

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since I've posted a memory Box card. I am using some of the  new products Memory Box is offering for 2014. New dies, of which I did get a few, but Dave put out stencils for this year. You all know how hot they are right now. Usually I am a day late and a dollar short with stamping trends. Not so this year- embrace the new!

Of course I had to do everything short of cutting them apart (that will come, I am sure!!:)) I would like to think I came up with this technique, but I am sure someone else has tried it. I am surprised it wasn't featured during the Stencil class by Jennifer Maguire and Kristine Werner.

Here is what I did:

First I used markers and colored the Butterfly Vine stencil itself.

Next I LIGHTLY spritzed it, really just a mist of water- no puddles or beads of water!!!

I gently placed it ink side down on my card stock and ran it through my Big Shot using the same platform combo I use for dies.

When you remove the stencil the ink is embedded into the card stock, almost like a letterpress.

I trimmed the piece and created the base card. I die cut the Oriel butterfly with MB gingham card stock and the Lunette butterfly with white card stock and colored it with markers and added a coating of  glitter and added it as an embellishment.

I was going to add a sentiment, but I just didn't want to interrupt the simple beauty of the card.

I have been trying to come up with a catchy name for this technique and haven't been able to- any ideas?

Let me know if you have a good name.

No guilt

This is the week of techniques! Tomorrow I am posting a technique that I came up with using stencils. and this week at Just Us Girls we having a technique challenge hosted by Sue V. It is clever way to make inked borders on your die cuts.

Thanks to your comments I am feeling no guilt this week over the fact that I only have a stamped sentiment on my card! 

 I am still creating Valentine's. I am hoping I have made enough from the past months to challenges to send out those I care about. Not much time for extra stamping with school being the busiest it has even been. 

This technique is cool, but it does take a bit of practice, but I found the results were worth it.

Here is the video on how to do the technique.

Hope you enjoy the last Valentine card for 2014. Please join us at Just Us Girls this week for this great technique!

Simply Create Too

Exciting news! I am finally allowed to share with all of you that I am part of the Simply Create Too design team!! Simply Create Too is a biweekly challenge blog. The design team is amazing and I am honored to be part of them. I will be sharing my creations once a month. I hope you all will check the challenges out and participate! 

This challenge is either a Mother's day card or a card for a female. That can pretty much cover anything! For my first challenge card I wanted to keep it CAS and use one of my favorite flower stamp set- Flower Friend by Simon Says Stamp. I have been creating a few cards that the image comes down from the top. It just looks so cool to me. I wanted bright happy colors to remind me that all the snow and polar temps are just temporary and spring is just around the corner!

Here is the same card but oriented from the bottom. Different but the same huh? 

I hope you are inspired by my cards and will join us at Simply Create Too. I am looking forward to see what you all create!

ohhhhhhhh the guilt!

This week at Just Us Girls, the challenge is this great CAS sketch from Maria. Naturally, I had to make a Valentine card. 

The first card I made (see card below the sketch) didn't have any stamping except for the sentiment. I really liked it- I really did. I loved the papers I used and how they just went together so well.  I kept looking at it and smiling and this little nagging guilt started rearing its head. The problem with the card was there WASN'T any stamping except for the sentiment. That just is not acceptable in my world. I am a stamper, I use dies folders etc as embellishments not the main focus. I even wrote a wee rant about it here.

So I got out my stamps and reworked the card. I tried to keep the same patterns on the nonstamped card because I really do like it. 

What do you all think, cheater card or stamped card? Am I nuts to even worry? Is this all a product of too much school work or work in general? Who knows? But please join us at Just US Girls with your take on Maria's sketch.

Tiny hearts

Have you ever had something just come together so perfectly? That is how I felt about this card.

Marisa's inspiration photo for challenge #225 at Just Us Girls was a bit daunting. There was just so much to look at. I couldn't pick anyone panel to work from, I liked them all.

Soooooo, taking a cue from a class Jennifer Maguire had called Inspiration Showcase, each heart was inspired from each panel on the photo. 

I had such fun creating each individual heart and am thinking about making a canvas of hearts based on this photo and card.

I can't wait to see how all of you interpret this weeks challenge!! Please join us at Just Us Girls!!

Thanks Marisa for challenging me this week!!

Back in the House- House of Cards that is!

Welcome back to the great challenges at House of Cards- the FIRST challenge blog to incorporate various stamping styles in their challenges. We are welcoming back some of the original team such as me :) and a big welcome to the new designers that have joined us.

HOC has gone to a biweekly format with each challenge featuring two styles for you to use. For our first challenge of the year we are wetting your creative juices with a sketch.

Clean and simple can sometimes be difficult when you are working from a sketch, so I might have taken a liberty hear with mine. I think it is important when participating in a challenge to try and stay within the parameters of the challenge- sketch, color, etc. That is why it is a challenge. OK just my two cents- feel free to tell me to get lost. :)

This card is for all the great friends I have met through the various challenge teams I am on and have participated in.

Please join us over at HOC and join us in the sketch challenge featuring CAS or classic and elegant styles!