It's positively washi!

Yesterday at Just Us Girls, I hosted the challenge. It was "trend" week and I chose washi tape. If you saw my blog, you will see how I used the washi tape to make a  negative "hello". What was I going to use all those positives for?

The past two weeks I have "just saying hello" cards from friends. I returned the thought and sent them each "hello" cards from me. Here is where the positives come in. They each received a card in their fav colors. I added  a sweet girl from the Mama Elephant set, In my Heart.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my twofer with washi tape. Be sure to check out Just Us Girls and join in the challenge!

Stretch your stamps 2 homework- 2nd post for the day

I have been watching all the videos at the new online card class Stretch you Stamps 2, but today they had another no-line coloring technique by Melania Deasy that totally intrigued me. There was no video just some quick instructions which I read carefully.

I like how the technique turned out, but can still see some lines. They don't distract from the finished work though. I think the next time I will stamp off first, so the image is lighter.

Being a bit nervous this first time around, I used the copic colors that Melania suggested.

Sooooooo, other then learning a great new technique, I learned I don't always need a video to learn from.

Can't wait to try some of the other techniques offered today. 

If you have never taken any of the online card classes, you should. They offer so many techniques and ideas for a great price point and the classes are always available.

Wishi Washi

There is nothing wishi washi about this week's challenge at Just Us Girls. It is trend week, my favorite challenge! This week we are challenging you to use washi tape! Washi tape has be trending for awhile now. 

Since I have tons of it and can never seem to put my mind to use it, I thought this would be a perfect challenge to host.

My card uses the negative space on a die cut. This card was so much fun and so easy that I created 5 to make a set for a gift for someone special.

 

I usually post pics of Miss Pinkie, but Zephry decided she wanted to see what all the fuss about washi tape is. She wasn't impress and quickly climbed over a pile of crafting supplies to take in the fresh air.

Now I am sure you are asking what I did with the positives. Well you just have to come back tomorrow to see.

Meanwhile, show us your best washi tape creation at Just Us Girls!

Cherish the moment

I had some time to actually play with a bunch of new stamps I got in the last month or so. In the process of playing, I decided to join in the fun over at The One- Layer Simplicity challenge. They hosting a color challenge and they offered several choices for the challenge. I chose "shades of summer #5".

I used my Mama Elephant's Bloomsies set  to create my flowery one layer greeting. I also made the card using cool blues but die cut the banner and popped it. 

I am hard pressed to decide which one I like better. What about you?

Wild Cards at the Card Concept

Hey Everyone- exciting news, I have been selected to be on the Wild Card team at The Card Concept. The Card Concept is a challenge blog similar to the House of Cards. They post an inspiration and the designers create a card based on the inspiration photo and a certain style.  The Wild Card team is a group of designers who will create a card in a different style for each challenge.

Now most of you know that I am CAS gal, so I thought this team would be great to make me think outside my box and try those different styles that can be so intimidating. Basically,  I am gonna show you if I can do them, so can you!

So without further ado, the present challenge is to create a wedding card based on this awesome photo.

For my first challenge I was assigned to make a classy and elegant card. Wait! Hold the presses, classy and elegant?!!? All I can say is the idea of wedding and classy and elegant are like peanut butter and jelly, they just go together.

To start my process, I checked out the definition of what a classy and elegant card is. Classy and Elegant means: polished, shiny finish, sparkling embellishments, sophisticated sentiments, regal, sweeping, dramatic, monochromatic, layered textures, awe and impress.

I began by pulling stamps out and I went with Papertrey Inks- Love and Marriage and then I began to play with the definition of classy and elegant in front of me.

The base of my card was an embossed folder- a very old one from Cuttlebug. After it was embossed, I took a Copic and lightly colored the raised areas of the panel. Coloring the raised areas with a copic marker totally accents the embossed areas to create a classy and elegant feel.

I had an idea of where I was going. I knew I wanted the heart within the heart, so I started playing with combinations.

I finally decided I liked the die cut and popped heart. My hubby thought the blue and chartreuse heart was to much and I had to agree. I swapped it out for a more subtle green.

I completed this card and I was really pleased with it. After a few days though, it just didn't seem dramatic enough. So I remade the card with a more regal blue base. It felt right.

Which one seems more in keeping with a classy and elegant style? Did I miss the mark?

I hope that one of you might step outside your box and try a different style and share it with us for this challenge at The Card Concept.

Computer Circuits

This month at House of Cards we have a fabulous sketch for you. As I have said before sketch's and CAS don't always come together for me, but this one seemed to work right away. I grabbed a new new stamp set that I have been playing with a lot- Basic Borders by Mama Elephant. 

I turned the sketch on its side and added the dotted border in summery colors and added the sentiment from Mama Elephant's Splendid.

I wasn't sure even I liked this card when I first finished it. I kept it on my desk for a few days and it began to grow on me. then I realized what I was looking at- a computer circuit!

This card will be perfect for those puter geeks in my life.

Check out what my fellow CAS designers created to for this challenge and head over to House of Cards and show us your sketch inspiration.

Sunny Days

This week's challenge at Just Us Girls is a word challenge. The word is "ribbon". I thought this was a bit tricky. Did it mean using a ribbon stamp? Did it mean a bow made with a ribbon or did it mean actually using ribbon on your card?

I have four shoe boxes of ribbon that I rarely use anymore, so this was a great challenge for me. I pulled out the boxes from under my desk and started sorting through them. I originally planned  a wedding card with some really elegant sheer ribbon, but I came across three rolls of bright orange and yellow ribbons that just warmed me like the summer sun. I had one of those "ah ha" moments and this card came to life in short order. I don't think I need to say anything else, do I?

I hope you will join us this week at Just Us Girls and show us how the word "ribbon"inspires you.