Muse Challenge #3: Laurie Willison

Hello Everyone,
It has been a long week - I am a teacher and we are in the thick of report card time, so I have not been able to blog. I am going to get my entry in to the Muse challenge just in the knick of time! I am just loving this new challenge blog - Muse. You really must check it out if you are not familiar with it yet. Not only is the premise great, but the muses are amazing. This week's Muse card was made by Laurie Willison. I love her design esthetic - I have visited her blog everyday for about two year's now and continually find inspiration in her style. So, when I saw her card on the Muse blog, I was thrilled. What really spoke to me was the tone on tone background paper that she used. Immediately I thought of a card I had seen on Kristina Werner's blog - I had saved it in my "cards to case" file. I opened it up (the file that is) and cased away. The flowers and the background on which they are mounted were originally whisper white, but I sponged them with Crumb Cake ink from SU. I like the way it softens the look. I did want some contrast, so I embossed the card base with a wood grain embossing folder (SU also). I love the way this card turned out. Thanks for stopping by. Now I am off to go and comment on all those great cards posted over on Muse!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Clean and Simple Card Making 2: Day 3 and 4

Hello Everyone,
Can I just say I am loving this latest of the online card classes run by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner (and friends). Yesterday Jennifer shared an inking technique that allows you to ink blend in order to get a gradation of colour. On my card I used this technique to create the colours of the butterflies. I stamped the first butterfly in red; then without cleaning the stamp, I inked it with orange and this is how you create the tertiary colour. Then I cleaned the stamp and inked it up in orange; then, without cleaning it I inked it with the hot pink to again create the tertiary blend. It is an easy and very clever technique - especially if you don't want to spend on a ton of ink pads! Today in class, it was all about the negative or white space. So I incorporated that into this card as well. This is much simpler - normally I would be tempted to add little touches to fill the white space. I think it works. Of course I couldn't resist adding one little rhinestone to each butterfly - I coloured these using the same technique! The butterfly is from SU's "Papillon Potpouri" and the sentiment is a PTI Think Big Favourite. Thanks for looking!

Happy stamping,
Meg

Clean and Simple Cards Day Two

Hello Everyone,
Today I am trying a new technique using my inktense pencils. This technique is from Online Card Classes - Clean and Simple Cards 2. Our "homework" is to make a one layer card. I have such a hard time with this be cause I LOVE using mats. Anyway... Jennifer McGuire demo'd this really cool technique that she called "Faux Artist". Here are the steps I followed to make this card. I stamped the PTI Think Big Favourites "Congrats" sentiment in soft granite. Then I used my Inktense pencils and coloured over the sentiment in rainbow colours. Next I used a water pen to blend the colours. Finally, I used a thicker nibbed pen and dragged it up and down over the sentiment to create that washed background. I found the sentiment too washed out looking so I traced back over with the inktense pencils. Then I added some glitter stars sut with a new Memory Box die. I still feel like I would like to mat it and mount it on another card base, but I am going stay outside my comfort zone and leave it as it is. Let me know what you think!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Challenge 2 and Clean and Simple Cards Day One

Hello Everyone,
When I saw the Muse challenge this morning, what struck me most about the inspiration card was the fantastic saturated colours. I love dark bold colours. I am taking Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire's online card class and decided to use one of their sketches and the inspiration of the bold flowers from the Muse card to create mine. When I was done, I felt something was missing, so I added the little stars - these reminded me of the little hearts on the patterned paper on the Muse inspiration card. I am pleased with the result. I used the Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise to mirror the colours of the flowers from Susan Dahlberg's card at Muse and the layered text bubbles from Jennifer McGuire's card over at Clean and Simple Cards 2. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled's "Just Hello" stamp set.  Thanks for looking.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC 87 Make Your Mark

Hello Everyone,
Time to play along with CAS-ual Friday! I didn't get my shiznat together for last week's challenge, so I am making sure not to miss this week's. When I was browsing the design team's amazing cards, I was really inspired by Christina's. I just love the delicate flowers and the gradated colouring. That is what inspired my card. I used my Distress Markers - Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, and Barn Door - to colour the little hearts. The sentiment is from the Verve stamp set "Make a Statement". This card is simple in design, but was very finicky to make - even though I love the way it turned out, I don't think I will be reproducing it. The difficulty with CAS design is that if anything is even the slightest bit off kilter, you see it right away. Anyhoo, after much fiddling and redoing, I think I finally got the result I was looking for! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology Week 28: Drink

Hello Everyone,
I was thrilled with this week's CASology cue card: drink. I knew I would have to use SU's "Happy Hour" stamp set. This card is simple and fun - I love the sentiment. I might add a little heart somewhere and make it a Valentine. I used a little trick I picked up from either Jennifer McGuire or Kristina  Werner (I can't remember which one - it might have been in one of their online classes {which I highly recommend}); instead of matting the focal image on a full piece of black cardstock, I simply added a slim strip to the top and bottom to give the illusion that it is matted. This is a great way to use up scraps and still provides that bit of "pop". I am really enjoying these weekly challenges and am not finding it too onerous to keep up with the blogging! Thanks for looking...

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Challenge #1: Inspired by Amy Kolling

Hello Everyone,
I am participating in the first Muse Challenge. I really like the participatory aspect to this card "club" and am drawn also by the amazing design team too. The challenge is to be inspired by our first muse: Amy Kolling. I am a regular follower of her blog, so being inspired by her is not much of a challenge. I was really drawn to her great bright yellow flower and the sentiment. I had also seen a technique a while ago on Jennifer McGuire's blog where she used the negative pieces from a die and pasted them to the front of the card and coloured them. I loved this idea, because I always "feel" bad for those unused pieces. To create my card I used the negative petal centers from a Daisy die and adhered them to the card front and then coloured them with my copics. Next I stamped the simple sentiment - which is from a CAS-ual Friday stamp set "Truth Is". I love the way it turned out. Thanks Muse for this great new challenge!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

The Paper Players 129: Clean and Simple Sketch

Hello Everyone,
When I saw this lovely sketch at the Paper Players Blog, I knew I had to play along. To create my card, I cut a square out of a piece of Eclipse masking paper that was the same size as my piece of cardstock; I masked off the cardstock and used my blending tool to sponge on some distress ink (Broken China). When it was the colour and consistency I wanted, I peeled off the mask. I simply stamped the sentiment underneath (K. Werner's Signature Sentiments) and adhered the daisy (Memory Box die cut). I love the simplicity of the card. Of course I had to add one little bit of bling, so I coloured a clear rhinestone with a turquoise Sharpie and embellished the center of the flower. I will send this to my BFF this week. Thanks Jaydee for creating such a wonderful sketch!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology Week 27: Blue

Hello Everyone,
This week I am not waiting until the last minute to participate in the CASology challenge. I was excited to see the cue card was: blue - a colour I love. When I was out and about today I had to stop by my favourite craft store - Heather's Stamping Haven - and of course I couldn't leave empty handed! One of the new toys I came home with was the fabulous Hero Arts background stamp that I used on this card. First, I coloured a piece of white cardstock with dark blue, medium blue and teal inktense pencils - then I blended with water. I inked up the background stamp in Versamark and embossed it in white. I love the way it turned out. I used a banner die from Simon Says Stamp and the sentiment is from Kristina Werner's "Handwritten Sentiments". The little rhinestones were clear and I coloured them with a turquoise Sharpie! Thanks for looking - I hope you like my take on "Blue".

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ual Friday: The Sequel

Hi Everyone,
Well I made two cards that fit the CAS-ual Friday challenge this week and I couldn't decide which one to enter. So, I am entering both! Yesterday, when I was out running errands, I stopped at Chapters because I knew that the new Paper Crafters' Special Issue "75 Creative Card Challenges" was out. I just had to purchase it and am so inspired by the projects inside. I just had to case Amber Kemp-Gerstel's card on pg. 11. I wish I could link to it. She used a Kraft cardbase and I used white. Apart from that  - and the rhinestones I couldn't resist adding (and the sentiment) - it is a direct case. It is going to my aunt who is one of the kindest souls I know. I send her a card every week, and this week I want to let her know she is appreciated - so the round of applause is for her and all she has brought to my life! I think she will like the funky design. Thanks for looking and I hope you have had a great weekend - I am off to play in my craft room for just a little while onger! :)

Happy Stamping,
Meg