Feathery Love - CAS(E) This Sketch #210

I'm playing along with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch, designed by the talented Leigh Penner, who I always see "spreading love" throughout Blogland (she's so sweet leaving all those comments):

I was inspired by a coffee mug owned by a friend of mine that is a lovely shade of deep teal, with gold feathers all over it, so I pulled out Stampin' Up's Fine Feathers and some gold embossing powder.

My card is a blend of so many wonderful companies out there - Simon Says Stamp provided the sentiment (Love Wafer Die + Sending & Wishing stamp set masked for just the "YOU"), MFT for the lovely Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frame Die-namics, Avery Elle's Happy Hour for the wee dot clusters, PTI for the Hawaiian Shores cardstock, and Stampin' Up's Fine Feathers for that lovely feather image. The framed centre panel has been popped up for some added interest.

I loved the design so much that I actually put together several cards with that teal/gold combo, which suited both birthday cards as well as sympathy cards that I worked on over the weekend. Sadly, I haven't had much time to spend in my craft room as work has kept me both busy and exhausted by the time I come home. But it did feel good to get inky this weekend and join along with CAS(E) This Sketch again - the DT cards, as well as so many lovely entries for this week's challenge, were great inspiration for me.

Prayers Garden Hydrangea - FMS #274

Happy Monday -

Well, February is proving to be quite the snowy month for many of us, and yesterday we got a wallop of the white stuff! It started in the morning, and didn't stop until later in the evening.

When all was said and done, the "official" reported amount was around 17 cms (just over 1/2 foot) for my area, just north of Toronto (Canada), but I'd like it if "they" came out with a ruler to measure the ACTUAL amount, which was well over a foot! My sore back & arms can prove it, too :-)

A great day to stay indoors to craft, wouldn't you say?

This week's sketch by Jen B. over at Freshly Made Sketches provided the inspiration for a card I wanted to make for an amazing couple, parents to a son I grew up with, who are going through some difficult times with the husband being diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

I also recently received some goodies from Altenew's latest release, so decided to use the Garden Hydrangea set for my card:

Hero Arts Stamp & Cuts "Prayers" Coordinating Set provided the right words.

The flower and "prayers" diecuts are popped up for dimension, and I rounded the outside corners to soften the look a bit.

Hope, when they receive it, they feel my heartfelt "hug".

Thanks for dropping in!

The Flower Challenge #5 - CASEing Therese Calvird (Guest DT)

For those who know me, you know how much I LOVE flowers - of any kind !

So it's no surprise that this new Challenge Blog caught my eye when it was launched a short time ago - The Flower Challenge

One thing that appeals to me is the length of time one is allowed to play along - a WHOLE MONTH! With my busy schedule, we are the perfect match.

I'm happy to say that I finally got around to joining the fun after seeing the amazing inspiration card created by the talented Therese Calvird, who is this month's Guest Design Team Member:

Isn't this card simply divine? I love how elegant she makes this CAS card design!

I CASE'd her sweet LO, as well as adding colour to the negative space left by a floral diecut and how she added the sentiment to come up with this:

I used Altenew's Peony Bouquet, and stamped the flower image in the negative space left by the matching die. The greenery was stamped on the top panel. My Misti made it all come together in a pinch (ummm .... OK, maybe a few pinches LOL). Simon Says Stamp's Wishing Sentiments and die from their "Together Forever" release supplied the lovely Birthday sentiment.

I urge you to go check out not only the fabulous cards that the DT has to inspire us, but also the wonderful challenge entries (linked here). Talent definitely abounds! In fact, I may be tempted to give this challenge another try :-)

So sweet of you to pop in for a wee visit today! Hope to see you again soon.

Cheers!

Altenew January 2017 Inspiration Challenge - Hello

Hello & welcome -

It seems that Mother Nature has decided she would spring Winter back on us this week, after almost 2 weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures that saw most of our previous snowfall melt and disappear.

I'm not sure which weather I prefer, as the warmer temps brought mucky conditions in our local park. I cringed while walking our dogs as this would inevitably mean I'd be washing my floors several times each day. Yes, the pleasures of owning 4-legged furry friends never ends! In my case, 2 long-haired Irish Setters (read into that: more space for dirt to hide and eventually fall off in the house LOL).

I'm so happy you've paid my little blog a visit today as I have another card I worked on over the weekend, this one using my Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour set. This card's inspiration comes from Altenew's January 2017 challenge, as seen here:

I must admit that I don't use yellows much - I tend to sway towards blues & greens more often - but I like how these colours go so well together. You need only check out the amazing gallery on the Altenew site to see what I mean. So many amazing cards.

This is only the second card on which I've tried watercolouring (if I don't count my throw-aways!). It'll definitely be a large learning curve for me, but I do enjoy it, so I'll keep practicing.

I added some gold and black ink spots on the watercoloured grey BG once everything had dried. I cut out the image with my Stitched Rectangle dies and mounted it on gold cardstock along with a grey Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Frame diecut. The image panel is popped up for dimension.

Hope your day is a crafty one!

Supplies: Altenew Best Mom & Flower Frame stamp sets

I'm Owl Yours - CAS(E) This Sketch #206

Hello, my crafty friends!

I'm finding it quite the struggle to get inky lately, although I do make sure to visit crafty blogs to leave some love and be inspired by all the wonderful creations out there.

I have a lot happening in my life lately, most notably the closing of the business for which I've worked full time for over 30 years. May 31st spells the end of a business which originally began in 1941 - yes, you read that right, 1941. Sad, sad news and I have very mixed feelings over the situation. But of course, that means I may have more time to be creative with all the free time I'll have on my hands (unless a new job falls in my lap LOL). Keeping my fingers crossed and excited to see what the future brings.

Enough of all that chatter! On to my card, and the wonderful inspiration I received from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge by the talented Leigh Penner, and all the amazing entries:

Having recently purchased My Favorite Things' I'm Owl Yours stamp/die set, this is what I reached for when coming up with my card design. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Appreciate the visit today and hope to see you again soon!

Supplies: MFT I'm Owl Yours stamp & Die-namics; PTI Cloud 1 & 2 dies; Spellbinders Cherry Blossom dies; PTI The Sweet Life stamp set

Copper Layering Leaves Birthday

Hello, and thank you for popping in -

I know it has been a while!

My computer was in a repair shop for about a month, which made posting impossible (and in some cases, commenting on all the lovely blogs I follow, for which I apologize!). There's only a limited amount of stuff I can do on my work computer during the day ;-)

So without further delay, I wanted to post one of the many cards I've made using the very lovely Concord & 9th Layering Leaves die set, which I couldn't wait to get my hands on as soon as it was released.

I picked up the new Copper Foil sheets recently released in the Stampin' Up Holiday Mini catalogue. Can you say "G O R G E O U S" ??? Unfortunately, you'll just have to imagine that rich, coppery colour as my photography skills definitely do NOT do this card justice!

I didn't expect this card to take on such a masculine "feel" to it, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Sending this over to a couple of challenges that it fits in with -

Muse Challenge #186, where Anita's beautiful card inspired me to use 3 leaf dies and a Birthday theme

and Pinterest Inspired Lawnscaping Challenge (sponsored by Ellen Hutson):

With those gorgeous, coppery orange colours & all those lovely leaf images, it's not hard to see where I got the inspiration for my card :-)

Thanks for your visit - have a crafty day!

Painted Flowers "Thanks" - Freshly Made Sketches #250

This is my second post today, so if you stopped in to have a peek at my CAS(E) This Sketch card, click on this link.

I happened to have a bit more time to play today so decided to give this week's sketch by Cecile over at Freshly Made Sketches a try.

Since I was also inspired by this month's challenge over at Altenew that featured this lovely photo/colour combo, I took out one of my favourite floral stamp sets - Altenew's Painted Flowers - for my card.

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Some lovely DP by Echo Park (Be Mine Collection) completes the look -

With such amazing inspiration as that, my card was quick & easy.

If you have a bit of time, why not check out the lovely posts on these two fabulous challenge blogs - you're sure to be inspired by all the amazing talent.

Cheers!