The Caffeinated Christmas Challenge is to add a gnome to your coffee-themed holiday card.
I chose the cute little Gnome from Gina K. Designs Home for the Holidays and paired him with some I Love Winter Paper from Echo Park using this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch (not realizing it had already closed ... oh well, still a great sketch).
I finished with a Holiday Coffee Cup Brad from Eyelet Outlet.
The September Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to create a card with an offset or shadowed stencil design.
I created my background using Gina K. Designs Water Droplet Stencil with White Pigment Ink and Dark Spruce Ink on kraft cardstock.
I used the three shades of Gina K. Designs Spruce Ink with the Layered Eucalyptus stamp & die cut with the Double Stitched Oval Die Cut.
The Layered Eucalyptus sentiment was stamped in the Medium Spruce ink to finish the card.
The current theme at Shopping Our Stash is Back to the Books - make a card that has anything to do with school or books ... or use a book page on your design.
I decided to combine the book theme with a book page using Gina K. Designs Open Book Stamp set. I stamped the book on a dictionary page that almost fit exactly inside the pages. I attached it to cardstock for some stability, and then used scissors to cut out the book.
I highlighted one of the dictionary definitions and then found some Authentique Classique Beauty book page & patterned paper for my card base. I attached the right side of the book and let the left side fold up slightly.
I finished with a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Grow Positive Thoughts to pair with the definition.
We can wait to see what you find when you Shop Your Stash.
The current theme at the Let's Squash It! Challenge is Keep it CAS!
I thought I would challenge myself a bit more to see if I could combine embossing with one of the other CAS Challenges this week. I searched through my embossing folders for possibilities and ultimately chose the Windy theme at CASology with the Sizzix Paper Airplanes embossing folder by Tim Holtz (because we know a good wind will make that paper airplane fly higher).
I tried several different techniques, but finally landed on embossing some light blue core blue cardstock that I embossed and then sanded to bring out a bit more of the texture.
I trimmed it down to 3" x 4" and attached it to a white cardstock base. I chose a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Happy Hearts to send some hugs across the miles.
The newest challenge at Shopping our Stash is Blending In - we're creating with Ink Blending.
I love ink blending, but it's also a technique that I know I could use a lot of practice to get better. I went through several possible ideas and settled on ink blending Gina K. Designs large Timeless Poppies image. I started by stamping it in white pigment ink on white cardstock and then I embossed with detail white embossing powder.
Next I blended Gina K. Designs' Red Hot and Red Velvet inks on the blooms and Blue Lagoon and Tranquil Teal on the leaves and out to the edges of the card.
When I have done similar techniques in the past, I used a baby wipe when I was done ink blending to brighten back the white embossed detail ... only one thing I forgot ... Gina's inks are reactive. I ended up swiping up and down the entire surface with the baby wipe to get an overall similar look across the entire surface (but it also lightened the inks a bit).
I stamped the sentiment from Gina K. Designs Grand Greetings using both shades of red ink with the darker shade along the bottom and added some glittery enamel dots.
I'm also linking-up at the Color Hues Challenge where the shades are red & blue.
The current Gina K. Designs Monthly Mix Challenge is to use Black & White with one other color - I went with Gina K.'s Lipstick.
I wanted to use the Try Stampin' On Tuesday Sketch, so I used a stamp from Gina K. Designs Holiday Tapestry in Obsidian Amalgam Ink (holiday stamps aren't just for the holidays).
Next I added Lipstick Die cuts from Gina K. Designs Foliage Fillers and Botanical Duo. I doubled the paper when I die cut the Botanical Duo, so that the pieces stayed inside the die cut on the bottom (when they weren't there, it was just a bit too busy against my stamped background).
I also took my design inspiration from the Just Add Ink Challenge with the black and white background and pop of color ... I just replaced the balloons with my foliage which has the same vertical feel on my slimline card design.
The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs Woodland Friends. I finished with a few enamel dots.
This gorgeous Vilit Design Mint Green Washi Tape arrived while I was traveling, so I had to immediately give it a try.
I used one of my favorite techniques, which is to create a washi tape background applying the tape slightly at an angle.
I thought it would look best with some contrasting white foliage for the Use Your Stuff Plants and Flowers Challenge, so I die cut the Gina K. Designs Foliage Fillers & Botanical Duo.
I finished with a THANK YOU sentiment from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 10 (which fit absolutely perfectly on the thin washi stripe). I finished with a scattering of enamel dots.
When I saw the new Freshly Made Sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the leftover Gina K. Designs Botanical Duo Die Cuts left from yesterday's card.
I layered several due cuts for dimension, and the attached them on top of a watercolor wash on a white card base.
I finished with a bold stamped sentiment from Gina K. Designs Go To Greetings.
I'm also linking-up at the CASology Botanical Cue Card Challenge.
The May Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K. Designs is to combine three items - an image, a die-cut and a sentiment - into your card design.
I knew I wanted my die-cuts to be the new Gina K. Designs Botanical Duo. Next i went hunting for an image that I thought would work as a background, and I settled on the large stamp from Gina K. Designs Holiday Tapestry (remember, holiday stamps aren't just for holidays). I chose an ink color that gave me a tone-on-tone look for the background.
I finished with some tone-on-tone gems for embellishments and a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Enjoyable Greetings attached with foam tape.
When I saw the fun cloth bunnies at the Fusion Card Challenge, I had an idea to create my own cloth bunny using my piece of gel pressed denim from the #marchprintingchallenge with GelliArts.
I started with this Gel Pressed piece of Denim.
I stamped my bunny from Gina K. Designs Some Bunny using Versafine Claire Nocturne Ink. Now the next question is do I have pinking shears (okay of course I have pinking shears) - so the real next question is can I find them. Turns out they were in the Scissor Basket right where they belong (that's a crafting miracle).
A little story - at the beginning of the pandemic when we starting working from home, my desk was positioned so that my studio was behind me. During video calls, my boss kept asking questions about why I had so many pairs of scissors and what were they all for ... so, to solve that problem, I rotated my desk, so I had my art wall behind me instead LOL (a lady doesn't need to be questioned about the quantity of her art supplies).
I used the pinking shears to cut out my stamped bunny and then added an orange bow for his neck, inspired by the photograph.
The Gina K. Monthly Mix Challenge is to make a Tag, so onto a tag my cute little bunny went together with the stamped Happy Easter sentiment from the same Gina K. Designs Some Bunny stamp set.
I kept the card simple using a striped designer paper inspired by the striped bunnies and some blue ribbon at the top of my tag before attaching the tag to the card base with foam tape for dimension.
I'm also joining the Creatalicious Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes with the option of Easter.
With the texture of my denim fabric, I'm joining the Texture Challenge at Cardz 4 Guys.
