CAS-ology: Gold and Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 4

Hello Everyone,
Today the challenge over at Summer Card Camp is totry something new. Debbie Hughes and Kristina Werner - the queen's of CAS - decided to go shabby chic. I too have tried this style in the past, and while I admire others' creations, I just don't like it for myself. So I decided to do another entry for the CASology Gold challenge and step outside my box... a little.

I stuck with a simple design, but really blinged it up. I made my own glitter paper using sook wang tape and  Glitter Ritz Microfine glitter - I am not a big glitter gal, but this glitter is exceptional. I used a new Memory Box die and a Martha Stewart snowflake punch. How I stepped outside the box... First of all the amount of glitter, secondly the washi tape. You may not think this is revolutionary, but I love it on other cards, I just never know how to use it - apart from holding my dies in place when I am die-cutting. So I took a page out Julie Ebersole's book and used it at the top of the card. Lastly, I used some sequins - I have avoided this trend because I thought that like washi tape, they look great on other people's cards, just not sure I would use them. I got some with a recent Neat and Tangled order as a thank you (I love that they always include a little gift with the order), so I thought that this would be the perfect time to use them. I started out by "sprinkling" them all across the top portion of the card front like snow, but it just did not look right. So, I did what fit more with my style ... I used them to embellish the single snowflake - I layered a white one inside a larger gold one and topped it off with a gold bead.

 I did not step way outside the box, but did incorporate things that I wouldn't normally use and I love the result. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Card Club: Challenge 27

Hi Everyone,
When I saw the inspiration card for this week's Muse challenge, I loved the combo of purple and red - that is what inspired me to create this card. I just got the Neat and Tangled "Across the Card" stampset and had to try it out. So I stamped it and embossed in gold; then I used PTI's "Quilled Elegance" to create a border above and below. I used the purple/red combo to add a bit of colour. Head over to Muse to check out the fabulous inspiration card and play along!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp 2 Week 3 Day 2 and CASology Cue Card 54: Gold

Hello Everyone,
Today we had yet another amazing class at card camp - one of the techniques was embossing die cuts. I chose to put my own twist on this and follow along with the new CASology Cue Card: Gold. I will admit it probably would have been easier to just emboss the die cut of the flowers, but what I did instead was I created a mask with Eclipse Masking paper and used the negative as a mask on my card front. I sponged the fower space with Versamark and embossed in gold. I peeled that mask off and replaced it with a mask of the oval and sponged around the flower with  Peacock Feathers Distress ink. Then I stamped the Hello sentiment in Delicata Gold Pigment ink - I actually triple stamped this to get the opacity I wanted. I love the way it turned out. I didn't really stick to the  colour combo of the week for camp, but my inspiration was a Tiffany's box - turquoise and gold. I hope you like it. I loved all the funky "mixed" EPs Jennifer used in today's class, so I am going to try mixing my own concoctions - if it works I will post again later.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 1, Part Two

Hello Everyone,
I have another card to show you! This time I am casing the delightful card that Kristina Werner demonstrated over at Card Camp today. I changed things up a little, but essentially, I used the same sketch and distress watercolour technique she used. The heart and sentiment are from a die set that Kristina desgined for Simon Says Stamp - the thank comes in a heart that fits inside the heart I watercoloured - but it looked a little too washed out with the heart around it, so I just cut the sentiment out and adhered it onto my die cut. In true Kristina fashion, I not only added the white dash lines, but also used my corner rounder! Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 1

Hello Everyone,
I have a card to share inspired by a technique that Jennifer McGuire demonstrated over at Summer Card Camp today: layered background stamping. I used the Mint Motif "Beyond Borders 2" set to create my layered effect. Following Jennifer's directions I stamped the background in white (Color Box Frost White) and then I stamped the same pattern in the negative space with SU's Crumb Cake ink. The sentiment was made using a PTI alpha die set and the little hearts were created with a Martha Stewart punch and an EK Success one. I veered away from this week's colour scheme a little by adding the red hearts and the little hearts in the center are purple although I think they look dark blue in the photo. Anyway, this layered background is a funky new technique I know I will use again - at first it looked complicated, but it turned out to be quite easy. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp: Week 2 Day 2 - Technique Tuesday!

Hello Everyone,
Today is Technique Tuesday over at Summer Card Camp! My card is a direct case of the one shown by Jennifer McGuire. I did use a different stamp set than hers, but really came up with the same results! She was demonstrating an emboss resist technique for layered stamping. Essentially, do all your step stamping and then stamp versamark over your layered image with the first layer stamp and clear emboss. The point of this is to be able to do the watercolour wash over the image afterward. I used my versamarker to colour the images and then applied the clear EP. Quick and easy - creating a grreat effect. Amber Kemp-Gerstel also demonstrated a cool ombre embossing technique, but that will have to wait til later - after I have run my errands! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Day One/Week Two

Hello Everyone,
Today sees the start of the second week of the fabulous Summer Card Camp - I love these online classes; honestly, if you haven't taken one yet - don't delay... go sign up.

Today's card is based on of this week's sketches and the colour palette for the week. I did struggle a little with this one, as the colours are not really ones I gravitate toward. However, I think I am pleased with the resulting card - I am still not sure... I used the same distress ink water colour technique that Kristina used, except I used Peacock Feather and Crushed Olive - I really like the pop of blue in the flowers. Anyway, hope you like it.

Happy Stamping
Meg

Paper Players Challenge 153: Christmas in July

Hello Everyone,
Today I am playing along with the Paper Players Challenge: Christmas in July! Yesterday morning when I checked out the blog for Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa, I saw that the new Memory Box dies Heather had ordered were in. Of course I had to work a stop at Heather's into my morning errands. I got the gorgeous tree die that you see on this card. Now of course a big rationalisation had to go along with the purchase since I really don't NEED another Christmas die - but certainly I cannot send out the same old cards to people every year - so really the purchase was altruistic - it will bring joy and surprise to the recipients. Just to balance out the card, I used "old" Christmas tools too! Hope you like it! I added a touch of B00 (copic) to the tree to create the snow, and used Picket Fences Distress paint dauber to the frame in the background. The star is also a Memory Box die and the banner is from Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 25 and CAS-ology: Neon

Hello Everyone,
This week I am posting a card that fits both the Muse challenge and CAS-ology. I loved Therese Calvird's card over at Muse the moment I saw it and I knew exactly what stamp set I would be using; then when I popped over to CAS-ology and saw that the cue card was Neon - I knew exactly what colour scheme I would be using! The stamp set I used is a delightful one from Annabelle Stamps -I just love these happy flowers. The set is called "Standing Tall. I just love these delicate outline stamps - they scream "Colour me!" So, I did, with some Neon markers. Now, my photo doesn't show the truly delightful bright of the Neon the way it does in real life  - so you will have to trust me when I say that the colour really does Kapow!. A simple, happy card - my fave. The only added "embellishment" is a touch of Glossy Accents in the center of each flower. Thank you Therese for the great inspiration.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Online Card Classes: Summer Card Camp 2 Day two and three

Hello Everyone,
I am lucky enough to be taking Jennifer McGuire and Krisitna Werner's Summer Camp Two online card class. If you have not participated in these classes, you must check them out. They are fantastic! Everyday, you get new inspiration videos which teach techniques as well as PDF instructions for all the cards.

So today's card comes from the "homework". I chose to combine one of the day two techniques and one of today's cards (by the great Laura Bassen). The technique Jennifer taught yesterday was called multi-inking with masking. I sort of did the reverse of this for today's card - instead of inking up the sentiment in different colours, I white embossed on coloured strips. The inspiration for the strips/thesketch/the colour scheme are from today's card by Laura. The sketch is one they have provided us as is the colour scheme. Idid play with the colour scheme a bit by changing the pinky-red to a real red and I added a strip of green. This is a birthday card for my husband who turns 52 this week. I used two different stamp sets - one from Avery Elle "Handwritten Sentiments" and the other from Jane's Doodles "I Got This" - these are both new, I was also joining in with Darnell and her NBUS movement - Never Before Used! Check out her blog. Anyway, I hope you like it - the inside sentiment says "You Colour My World", which is why I chose the rainbow colours. My husband is an heritage carpenter, so that is why I added the wood veneer stars and embossed the card base with my woodgrain EF.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 24, Happy Canada Day!

Hello Everyone,
It is nice to be back after a long absence. Happy Canada Day to all! The last month has been so busy - between wrap-up at school (so nice to be on summer hols) and getting the house listed! I mentioned in my last post that we had found our dream property - unfortunately after the inspection, we decided to walk away - there was just going to be too much work off the bat. We have found another place that we love - in many ways a much betterchoice for us . . . funny how things always work out. However, we can't put in an offer until we have a firm offer on our house. The good news is that we have had plenty of traffic through our house, but no nibbles yet. My whole family is praying to St. Joseph (we are quite a clan, so that is a lot of positive energy on my side) and we hope to sell soon. All this to say, that we are living in a bit of a showhome at the moment which has also curtailed my stamping somewhat. Now that I am off for the summer - all this will change ... lots of time to stamp!

I popped over to Muse today and was thrilled to see that we are getting a little bit more time each week to participate, and was also thrilled to see the Muse card for this week by the awesome Laurie Willison. The moment that I spied that funky colour of green, I thought NEON - I bought some Hero Arts Neon ink stamping spots and this is the perfect challenge on which to use them. So, here is the card I created.

I stamped the paint strokes from PTI's Watercolour Wonder set in the Hero Arts Neon inks and then added the sentiment from a Hero Arts set (can't see the name on the package). I embossed the whole thing with clear EP to really saturate the colour. I will be sending this one to my bestie Wendy. Anyway, thanks for stopping by - I promise to post more new cards soon!

Happy Stamping
Meg