CFC85: Round of Applause

Hi there Everyone,
This week's challenge at CAS-ual Friday is a fun one - make a card that celebrates an accomplishment and has at least one circle. The card I am entering is for my BFF - she just finished her last exam to become a Real Estate Agent. It was super tough for her, but she did it! I just bought some Inktense colour pencils by Derwent and am in love with the beautiful saturated colour they create. I cut a piece of water colour paper to 4"x5.25" and coloured it pretty solidly with a red section, an orange section and a yellow section. Then I painted with water - how easy. I went back in at the intersection of the colours to blend a little more. I love the way it turned out. I die cut the word Brilliant from Kristina Werner's "Brilliant and Strong" die set available at Simon Says Stamp. The "you are" comes from Neat and Tangled's "Kindness Matters". The little butterfly is from SU!'s "Beautiful Wings" embosslit. I cut it from watercolour paper and used my inktense pencils to colour and "paint" it too. I love the way the card turned out - thanks for looking!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology: Winter

Hello Everyone,
I have been thinking all week about this new CASology challenge: Winter. I have to admit that I am a little saturated with making winter cards. I decided to go very simple. So I chose some paper from Recollections Jolly Jamboree paper pad for the card base. Then I cut out the Memory Box Country Landscape from white cardstock - I adhered it to the cardbase with dimensionals. The sentiment is a Think Big Favourite (not sure which one). I thought the sentiment looked a bit too stark, so I added the snow flake (Martha Stewart). I am pleased with the way it turned out and am just getting this posted under the wire! Thanks for looking.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Paper Players Challenge 127: Love is in the air!

Hello Everyone,
With Valentine's Day coming up next month, it is no surpirse to see this  "Love is in the air" challenge over at the Paper Players. I saw this card on pinterest (great place for inspiration), and knew that I had to case it. I changed a couple of things up, but thought this was such a clever use of the Martha Stewart cluster of hearts punch. This is a super simple card - but very effective in its simplicity. I love the white on white. I used SU! red glimmmer paper for the hearts and bakers twine for the bow. I like the sentiment too - as this can be a "platonic" Valentine for a friend. The sentiment is from Kristina Werner's "Handwritten Sentiments" available at Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

PPA 150: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, and Basic Gray

Hello Everyone,
I popped over to Pals Paper Arts - I haven't visited their site in a while - and loved the colour combo for the PPA 150 challenge. I also love the new look of the blog. This is the card I created for the challenge:

I cased this card by Amy Kolling - what a talented designer! I used melon mambo and an ink blending tool to colour the flower petals (stamped and heat embossed in black first). The flower image is from the Neat and Tangled set "Fresh Blooms". The leaves are coloured with Old Olive using the same technique. The sentiment is from another Neat and Tangled set called "Kindness Matters". I think this colour combo really suits this card. Be sure to head over to the Pals Paper Arts blog to see the other great cards they have there! Check out Amy's blog too!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

On a Roll: 2 in 1! CAS-ual Fridays and A Blog Named Hero

Hello Everyone,
Post number two for the day! I have the time, so why not! I always stop by CASual Friday challenge and was pleased to see the challenge this week: a CAS thank you card - how appropriate, since I have a few to send out this week. I created this card for the challenge and to send as a thank you to my parents for hosting my husband and I in Florida over the Christmas Hols. It was so nice to get a bit of warmth and sunshine in the midst of winter.

The background stamp I used is from Impression Obsession Stamps. I just bought it at Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it. The cloud background is so realistic. I inked up the stamp in Hero Arts pool midtone ink and stamped it on white cardstock. Then I stamped the sentiment in black on Vellum cardstock. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled's "Kindness Matters" stamp set. I felt it needed something else, so I inked up one of the butterflies from SU's Butterfly Potpourri set and punched it out - of course I could not resist adding a few rhinestones. It is very rare that I make a true one layer card, but I felt this stamp really stands on its own (or almost on its own). As I was blog hopping I realized that the use of this new stamp, also qualifies this card for the "A Blog Named Hero" Challenge too: New Year, New You. For this challenge you have to try something new! So, this card qualifies. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I will be back soon with the cards I am sending out this week to my "card club".

Happy Stamping,

Meg

I'm Back! CASology: New

Hello Everyone,
It has been waaaaaaaay too long since I posted last. Posting regularly has been an on-going battle for me. My hat is off to those of you who post daily. I find once the school year starts (I am a teacher), my life gets busy and I have a hard time following through with posts - I am definitely crafting, but not posting. So, here is my resolution for this year... I am going to post more regularly. I know I have said this in the past, but this time I have a plan. I love following CAS-ual Friday Challenges and CASology challenges; I have decided that  I will enter each one every week. In order to enter I will have to post my creation. In addition, last year I made a commitment to send a card to a small group of friends and family each week of the year - so I will post these card creations as well. I think I should be able to manage three posts a week.

To start things off here is my entry for the CASology challenge this week. The cue card theme is new. To create this card I used two new items. One is the flower punch - I just picked it up yesterday at Michaels - the best part is that it was half-off! I love this little flower. The other new item is the foil paper I used to punch the flowers - it is very "flashy" in real life. I made this card for a friend of mine - she is part of my weekly card club; her birthday is this week and she is a flashy kind of gal, so I thought this would suit her to a "t". The sentiment is a Think Big Favourites from papertrey ink. I can't remember which one. Essentially this was a very simple card - I just punched the flowers, put a brad in the center, and attached each one with a dimensional. Then I stamped the sentiment. Very CAS indeed.

Happy New Year to everyone, and happy stamping!

Meg

Online Card Classes: Stretch your Stamps

Hello Everyone,
This is the third onlinse card class I have done and I have to say, they never cease to amaze me with their great. easy-to-use ideas. I love the idea of being able to "stretch my stamps". This background technique that was demo'd yesterday is very easy to do. I bought some of the Felt ink pad stuff (not its official name) and inked it up with a rainbow of colours using my SU reinkers. Then I just stamped as usual. the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp and I am just loving it. Hope you like the card - I am thrilled with the way it turned out.

Happy Stamping.
Meg

Cas-ual Friday 60: Use Text Challenge

Hello Everyone,
The summer has gotten off to a busy start. I was very relieved to have the school year come to an end - the year is always busy, but my switch from the classroom to the Resource Room was more of a challenge than I had anticipated. That being said it was very productive because it really got the old teacher percolating with new ideas! Anyway, enough of that - I have been stamping up a storm the last few days.

I love the CFC 60 challenge to use text. I created this card. I just got a Vagabond cutting machine and am even more in love with my Memory box Dies. I was finding with the Big Shot, I would have to shim each one differently and they were not cutting cleanly. This machine (Vagabond) is the machine! Thanks Tim Holz! Anyway, I used the Fresh Daisies die from Simon Says Stamp line of Memory Box dies. I love it. I ran it through my Xyron sticker maker to make the front sticky and then covered it with extra fine Glitter Ritz transparent glitter. Next I just coloured it with my Stampin' Write markers. The text background is En Francais from SU! - I love this background stamp. The sentiment is a new set of Hero Arts sentiments that I got thanks to a student of mine and the gift of a gift card she gave me. I love the way this card turned out - it relly is glittericious in real life.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Case Study Challenge 95: Another Card for Wendy

Hello Everyone,
For this week's Case Study challenge - I cased a case! In January I decided that my cards needed a destination - I was making too many that never seemed to have a home to go to. So, I made up my mind to send my BFF a card a week for a year; we live in the same city and we get together every week, but she is loving getting a little mid-week pick me up in the for m of a card. So, when I saw the case study challenge this week, I knew what Wendy's card would be. I actually cased the guest designer's case! Since I started this card club - I have added several more people as recipients and am so enjoying sending my designs out each week. Anyway, I love the way it turned out. My photo didn't quite capture how cool the cutout background looks - I just love my memory box dies! Anyway, thanks for looking!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Cas-ual Friday Challenge 55: Style it with Bling

I love when Cas-ual Fridays Blog posts the new challenges. This week's challenge is to style it with bling - not much challenge in that for me - I have a hard time keeping the bling off my cards! Anyway, I just made a visit to my favourite local crafting store and stocked up on some new Memorybox dies... How can a girl resist when they keep coming out with fantastic new designs. So, I decided to test out this Christmas tree - I love it! I cut it out with SU's shimmer white paper and mounted it on Cherry Cobbler. I embossed the Cherry cobbler with SU's Snowburst EF. Then I added a Memorybox star cut from silver glitter paper. Finally on went the last touch of bling - clear rhinestones. My picture doesn't quite catch the real-life sparkle, but I think you get the picture! Thanks for popping in.

Happy Stamping and crafting,
Meg