CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge - One Layer Wonder!

It's The Challenge time again over at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week we're making a One Layer Wonder card!  Get out those stamps and inks and imagination folks because you get to create a one layer card!

For my card this week I used the following stamps from CAS-ual Fridays:

Pretty Posies and Mon Ami

 


On this card I did some masking, stamping and watercoloring to create a one layer bouquet of flowers to add the illusion of depth and dimension.  For a finishing touch I added some black NUVO Crystal Drops. 

For this card I also used:
Ink: onyx black (Versafine), Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Watercolor markers (ZIG).
Paper:  bristol smooth 100 lb watercolor paper (Strathmore), Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Accessories: ebony black gloss NUVO Crystal Drops.

Now it's your turn.  I hope you'll play along with us for your chance to win!

All you have to do is make your own One Layer Wonder card,  then link it up over on the 

CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge blog by March 7th ----------->HERE<--------------

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a great weekend and happy stamping!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

As a card maker every occasion is reason to send a card.  But Valentines Day is THE reason.  What better way to say I love you than a handmade card?   Today I want to share a few of the cards I made and send some love your way.  I kept these Valentines all small and square at   4 1/4". 

First up is a card for my nephew.  I tried to stay masculine but the cuteness just snuck up on me.  I started with watercolor cardstock and some watercolor paint for the background.  The trees are also watercolored but for the bear I brought out my Copic markers.  I stamped and did some ink blending over the front of the card base for a natural woodgrain affect.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Honey Bears (The Ton), Barnwood Background (Concord & 9th).

Ink: found topaz (The Ton), clear emboss (Versamark), Copic markers, Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor paints.

Paper: black (Simon Says Stamp), 140 lb watercolor (Canson), premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Accessories: Honey Bear Dies (The Ton), Tall Trees dies (Penny Black), white embossing powder (WOW!), twine.

I needed another masculine card for a teen nephew so I stuck with the woodgrain background.  This time I diecut a heart out of the center and raised it a little with a layer of fun foam underneath.  Adding a couple rows of diecut arrows along the bottom helped to tie in the black sentiment.

Stamps: Barnwood Background (Concord & 9th), Sending & Wishing (Simon Says Stamp).

Ink: found topaz (The Ton), clear emboss (Versamark).

Paper:  black, red (Simon Says Stamp), premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Accessories:  Sending die (Simon Says Stamp), Heart STAX dies (My Favorite Things), Of The Heart dies (Lil' Inker Designs), heart punch (Martha Stewart), twine, fun foam.

I had so much fun making this cute little card for my niece.  She's a kitty lover and I wanted to send a box overflowing with kitties her way.  I love how easy these tiny kitties were to color with copics.  Not a lot of shading needed, super simple!

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Pick of The Litter (WPlus9), Love Notes (CASual Fridays), Bokeh Burst Round (The Ton).

Ink: clear emboss (Versamark), midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs), wet cement (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), Copic markers.

Paper: razzle berry, natural (My Favorite Things), cotton candy (Simon Says Stamp), premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Accessories: All Prettied Up dies (Mama Elephant), white & clear sparkle embossing powders (WOW!).

This card I made for a fellow coffee lover...my sister.  Keeping it simple and clean with a bright white background accented with some very light polkadots at the top.  The little touches of red really pop off a white background.

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps:  Mug Hugs (Sunny Studio), Yay Stripes (Catherine Pooler Designs), Coffee Talk (Lil' Inker Designs).
Ink:  natural (My Favorite Things), rockin' red, midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs), Copic markers.
Paper: premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Accessories:  Mug Hugs dies (Sunny Studio), Stitched Mats Rectangles dies (Lil' Inker Designs), twine.



My last card is for my little sister.  I kept it bright and only used one ink color for this card.  I stamped some stripes around the edges and blending some color towards the inside of the card base. Popping up a diecut white panel with dimensional tape over the top, adds some clean edges and interest.

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps:  All You Need is Love (Lil' Inker Designs), Yay Stripes! (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Ink:  flirty fuchsia (Catherine Pooler Designs), clear emboss (Versamark).
Paper: silver sparkle (My Favorite Things), premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Accessories: Layers of Love die (Concord & 9th), dimensional tape (3M), white embossing powder (WOW!), silver sequins.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a beautiful Valentine's Day and surround yourself with love.

XXXOOO!

CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge - Pink, Red & White!

It's The Challenge time again over at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week love is in the air so our cards are going Pink, Red & White!  The Challenge is to make a card using these three colors.

For my card this week I used the following stamps and dies from CAS-ual Fridays:


MWAH, Casual Comfort, Fun-Fetti and Casual Trees

 

   

I made the sentiment the focal point on this Valentine by using the gorgeous scripty MWAH stamp set. 

 

For this card I also used the following supplies:
Ink: Party Dress, Rockin' Red (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Paper:  Premium white cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).
Accessories:  glitter tape, twine

I stamped a floral branch from the Casual Comfort stamp set three times then used the coordinating die from the Casual Trees set to cut them out.

I hope you'll play along with us for your chance to win!

All you have to do is make your own card using the colors Pink, Red & White,  then link it up over on the 

CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge blog by February 21st ----------->HERE<--------------

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Friday and Happy stamping!

SOA - The Perfect Reason Collection Release Day!

Yay!  It's finally here!  Stamp of Approval release day for

The Perfect Reason Collection!

Did you order your box yet?   Hurry because they sell out super fast!  You don't want to miss out!
 
I would like to share one more card with you using that fabulous Paisley Peacock stamp set and coordinating dies.   For this card I started out stenciling the background with the Mod Squared Stencil.  Then I paired this gorgeous stamped and diecut peacock with the Perfect Vine diecuts.   Unlike my card yesterday, I kept this peacocks tail short and flirty but seriously fabulous!  Loving that sentiment from the You Did It stamp set.

For this card I also used the following supplies:

Ink: Lime Rickey, Fiesta Blue, Somthing Borrowed, Midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs), clear emboss (Versamark).

Paper:  Premium White cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Accessories: white embossing powder (WOW!), white NUVO drops, clear sequins, dimensional tape (3M)

This fabulous peacock looks great from all angles!

There's still time to WIN this entire box of goodies!  The Perfect Reason blog hop will be open for comments until 9AM tomorrow morning.  Yep you have until Thursday and there will be THREE WINNERS chosen and announced on Catherine Pooler's blog the same day.  All you have to do is leave a comment on every stop of the blog hop--->HERE<----

 There will be a winner chosen for DAY 1, another for Day 2 and the third for DAY 3 of the bloghop.  Get your comments in for your chance to WIN!  Not to worry, if you have already purchased a box and are chosen as one of the winners, Catherine Pooler will refund you. 


What are you waiting for, just follow my links and get hopping!!





 

The Perfect Reason Stamp of Approval Blog Hop Day 3

Hi everyone and welcome to day 3 of the Stamp of Approval blog hop for the release of the brand new
 The Perfect Reason Collection!
Goes on sale tomorrow, Febuary 8th!!



By now you've hopefully had a chance to follow along on day 1 and day 2 of the blog hop and have had a good look at some fabulous eye candy by our designers  using this gorgeous new 
Stamp of Approval Collection.

Catherine Pooler  and her designers have really outdone themselves creating this very unique collection of stamps and dies that is so appropriately named The Perfect Reason.  We like to think every reason is The Perfect Reason to make a card, right?   Well this box is loaded with all the inspiration you'll need including 4 stamp sets, 3 die sets and a stencil that were specifically created to work together and compliment each other perfectly.  You'll also receive a PDF Project Guide with tons of card inspiration from the Stamp of Approval designers.  This Project Guide provides photos and step by step instructions on how to make some of the beautiful cards you've seen on the hop and more!


Just a reminder:   these boxes sell out really quick so you need to make sure you're on the email list <----HERE!  Catherine will email you tomorrow morning,  as soon as the collection goes on sale.  The items in this box won't be available for individual purchase for many months so this will be your only opportunity to get them early and I wouldn't want you to miss out on all of this fun!

Here are a few cards I made using this wonderful collection.

First up, this gorgeous peacock from the Paisley Peacock stamp and die set.  Have you ever seen anything like it?  This stamp set is so fun!  You can give him a short tail or do like I did here and stamp a fun pattern full of color using inks from  Catherine Pooler Designs.    I also added my favorite sentiment in this collection "I don't need a reason"  from The Perfect Reason stamp set. Along the side of this card I colored and embossed a strip of paper using the Mod Squared Stencil and Something Borrowed ink from Catherine Pooler Designs.

Using The Perfect Reason stamp and die sets I made the next card by creating a vine of those pretty little bell flowers.  These flowers are so whimsical and I've seen them used many different ways just in this blog hop.  This large sentiment is from the You Did It stamp set.  I also stamped a black diamond border stamp up the side using the Everyday Mod stamp set.

Here's a better look at that pretty diamond Everyday Mod border stamp stamped in Tutti Frutti ink from Catherine Pooler Designs.  I used a couple more flowers from The Perfect Reason floral stamp set and coordinating dies to make a pretty bouquet.

For my last card I created a background out of a small border stamp from the Everyday Mod stamp set.  This stamp has three circles but stamps so nicely across a card front.  It's easy to line up and really makes a lovely pattern.  Here I went with a gradient color pattern using Tiara, Tiki Torch, Tutti Frutti and Rockin Red inks by Catherine Pooler Designs.  The adorable little sentiment is from the You Did It stamp set and I topped it off with some cute tiny flowers from  The Perfect Reason stamp set.

OK, you know the drill! 
Leave a comment here in my comments section before you leave for your chance to WIN!!  Catherine Pooler is giving away one of these awesome Stamp of Approval  boxes each day of the blog hop  so the more blogs you comment on the better your chances are of winning.  You have until 9AM on  February 9th to enter your comments.

The THREE WINNERS will be announced February 9th on Catherine Pooler's blog.  Don't delay ordering your box though.  If you are chosen as a winner and you already have a box on the way,  Catherine will refund your money. 

Leave your comment and then hop on over to Lydia's blog!

Catherine Pooler

Lisa Harrolle <----you are here

Lydia Evans <----go here next!

Chrissie Tobas

Ingrid Blackburn 

Taheerah Atchia 

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Stamping!