AAA Cards challenge sketch!

 Hi all!

It’s been a crazy 2 weeks…my moms been was in the twice!  Once for a broken foot, and the other is still an anomaly.  I’ve been nursemaid and care taker for her and my dad and have spent many nights there as well.  Hubby has been a rockstar taking over my duties at home…he’s a great partner!

I was able to squeak out a card for the AAA Cards challenge using some left over die cuts I’ve had on my desk from Spellbinders.  

The circle die cuts are from PinkFresh slimline essentials set and they thankfully fit in my card front!

Some added sparkle for the berries and a sentiment from Pink & Main round out the card!  Be sure to visit our DT member for inspiration and share your card on our blog!  We hope to see you there…have a colorful day!

Quick and EASY card with THE TON stencil!

 Hi all!

Super quick post today, Just like my card! For the next challenge with AAA Cards, We have a sketch for you to follow.

I chose to use a stencil from The Ton called Emma Pumpkin.  It is a great stencil for a cute graphic pumpkin. How amazing would this be in pink?

I used Altenew inks for all the layering with the stencil.  The colors coordinate perfectly with each other so there is zero guess work.

I only have one Halloween stamp set, and I used it for the bats in the corner.  It’s from a very old Lawn Fawn set, I don’t even have the name!  Either way, it was perfect for the highlight to follow the sketch.

What will you do for this weeks challenge? Make sure you link it to our gallery so we can stop by and say hi. Have a colorful day!.

CAS card for AAA Cards Challenge with PINKFRESH Stencil!

Hi all!

It's time for another challenge from AAA Cards!  This time we have a sketch to inspire you...

Here is my take on the sketch.  it was inspired my my recent class with PinkFresh studios in the Create & Connect event.  It is SO much fun...I love participating in these events!  I am actually on my way home right now from the Altenew IN PERSON event in Syracuse NY.  It's my first time going to one of these in person, I'll let you know how it goes!

 This card uses a set called Framed Art.  It stencils with contemporary 'paint swishes'...for lack of a better term...and a floral and fruit stamp images as well.  In keeping with the sketch, I opted for the swishes.  

The swishes were ink blended using the colors from the class, Pinkfresh's Cherry blossom, Candy Violet, Sunkissed and Opulence.  I NEVER would have put those colors together, but I love how it came out!

The final swish was added with gold embossing powder as well as the sentiment from the class from the Love and Gratitude set.

I want to see your interpretation of our sketch, be sure to add it to our gallery and have a colorful day!

Oh Crap…

 Super EASY card for our AAA Cards Challenge!

Hi all!

This is the end of summer for us…I’m leaving in a few hours to take my oldest back to college, and despite a ruptured ear drum, my daughter was able to start school this past Friday too!  The summer went by too quickly… but now I’ll be able to spend more time in the studio, baring anymore family emergencies!

My card for the new AAA Cards challenge perfectly depicts how July went for us…

I love this set by Simon Says Stamp and CZDesigns! It’s called Giggles And…  I laugh everytime I use it.  Poop humor is still my sister’s favorite so this will be sent to her when the time is right.

The background is from Altenew’s color blobs stencil and I just used my dirty blending brushes to stencil them.  The emojis were colored with Altenew alcohol markers the  die cut with the coordinating dies.  

Super fast and funny card!  What will you create for our challenge?  Hope to see your creations…have a colorful day!

 Create a SIMPLE CAS card with ink blending!

Hi all!

This has to be the easiest card to create and it has limitless possibilities!  For the challenge at AAA Cards, the DT has created a sketch for you to follow.  Simple eh?  An added silhouette to the ink-blended panel makes it even more simple.  Check out all the DT cards for inspiration, and here is my simple CAS card...

See?  Easy Peezy!  To keep this sympathy card simple, a monochromatic ink blending was in order.  Pinkfresh's Mint, Meadow, Emerald City and Evergreen inks were used to create an ombre effect.

For the silhouette on the ink-blended area, Altenew's Botanical Line Art stamp set was used.  This set includes many sentiments for all occasions as well, so it was a great choice for this project.

Now this card IMO needs some bling...but I held back to keep it as CAS as possible...it's so HARD to control my bling urges!!!  

Alright, let's see your CAS creations with ink-blending and silhouettes...be sure to share them to our gallery so we can visit you!  Have a colorful day!

 Summer fun with Spellbinders NEW Mini Die subscription set!

Hi all!

It time for another challenge with AAA Cards!  This challenge is an Anything Goes challenge with an optional twist of summer colors.

The newest Spellbinders mini stamp and die set had just arrived in the mail just begging to be inked up.  The key chain invokes thoughts of vacations in hotels.  Most of my vacations as a child were taken in Florida, a Palm Beach color scheme was a great solution!

The card base was inked with Frayed Green Fresh Dye ink from Altenew to give the key a background.  This stamp set comes with 3 options for the image on the key chain, since this is Florida inspired, the sun and ocean image was the perfect choice. 

The image was stamped with Permanent Black ink by Altenew then colored with alcohol markers.  The key however was colored with a gold paint marker to give it a metallic feel.  It was then die cut and added to the card front.

The sentiment came with the stamp set and a few gems were added to finish.  Thats it!  Super easy CAS card with a Summer color scheme!  I hope this and the other DT creations inspire you to join us for this challenge.  Be sure to link your card in our gallery…have a colorful day!!

Another EASY CAS card with AAA Cards challenge!

 Another EASY CAS card with AAA Cards challenge!

Hi all!

I’m here with another EASY card with AAA Cards challenge!  This challenge is anything goes but has a masculine twist.

This is another card I created using items from my scrap bins.  This time items were pulled from the panels and stamped images bins.

I will be using this card for my hubbies birthday for sure since we have a similar car in the same colors.  This stamped image is an old one from PaperTrey Inks and it’s been in the bin a LONG time.  It was time it saw the light of day!

The panel was cut to add a little interest to the card without distracting from the main image.  An inked shape would have been great too.  

Finally, a sassy sentiment and some enamel dots were added to finish it off!  See what I mean by easy!  It couldn’t be easier than this card.

Now let’s see what you can create for us!  Be sure to add your work to our gallery!

Have a colorful day!

Happy Birthday AAA Cards Challenge!

 TONS of GIVEAWAYS for AAA Cards Challenge’s 10th Birthday!

Hi all!

I am very excited to share. We are celebrating AAA Cards Challenge blog 10th birthday today!  Isn’t that exciting! 10 years of continued inspiration… I am honored to be a part of the design team.

For the celebration, the design team has assembled, not only beautiful cards to inspire you, but also fantastic products for you to win! After all, what’s a birthday without presents? to qualify, make sure you share your CAS designed card with us in our gallery.  Be sure to head over to the challenge blog to see all the fantastic, fantastic goodies we are giving away! In the meantime, here is my inspiration for you.

One of my favorite companies, Altenew, is giving away a $25 gift card to one of our lucky winners! I decided to use one of my favorite Altenew kits, their Craft Your Life Splended Bouquet kit. Altenew CYL kits are my favorite subscription. They literally come with everything you need to create gorgeous cards! And boxing folders, dies, stamps, and stencils are generally included in these kits.

For my card, I use the stamp set, and it’s coordinating stencil set. I only used pinks, yellows, and blues to create this rainbow flower. The color, families of cherry blossom, pocketful of sunshine, and Sweet dreams blend together perfectly to create the rainbow.  The rock collection color family was used for the leaves.

Finally, Enamel dots were added from the same collections for a little shine.  I kept my card CAS in design by keeping it one layer. A piece of Post-it note was cut to mask where my sentiment was going to go when I did my stamping and Ink blending.

All right! Let’s see what kind of CAS cards you can come up with! Have a colorful day!

Blogger jail

 Hi all,

I've been trying for hours to get Blogger to post this...either way I hope you'll join us for our AAA challenge this fortnight.  It's a great sketch that has so many possibilities for creativity.

See!  Cute, right?  I pulled out Altenew's Stamp and Paint set, which debuted in March.  It's really a fun way to get into watercolor painting, pretty foolproof!

I have a Youtube video of the process of how to make this type of card. Check it out here:

For this sketch, I decided to pull it out again!

The leaves were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with gold powder, and then it was time to play with watercolors.  Yellows, greens, teal blues were used for the colors.

It was topped off with enamel dots from Altenew's Martian Terrain to make it more special.  Now, let's see what you can do with our sketch!  Please share your creations with us in our gallery...we love to see how you do it!  Have a colorful day!!

AAA Cards Challenge 4-14

Glimmer Hotfoil with a BetterPress plate for the AAACards Challenge!

Hi all!

Thanks for joining me today for another AAA Cards Challenge!  The challenge this time around is Anything Goes, but you can make a wedding or anniversary-themed card if you'd like.  I chose to follow the theme and thought continuing with some foil accents would be a perfect fit!

The sentiment strip was found in my scrap bin which was heat embossed on this beautiful pale blush shimmer paper left over from my own wedding.  The stamp is from Altenew Leaf Canopy, it's a great basic set to have on hand if you don't already have it.

The window die and the image inside it came from Spellbinders Floral View BetterPress plate set.  It's great that press plates can be used in the Glimmer system!  It extends the use of my supplies, a bonus in my book.  The extreme detail on that image is so beautiful...it would be lovely to color in....next time!

 It is a very simple yet elegant card that took only a few minutes to assemble!  I am also entering this in the Triple B challenge, it only has one of the B's, but the color is spot on in their inspiration photo.

Now head over to AAA Cards Challenge and share your creation with us!  Have a colorful day!

Hummmmm...TIC TAC TOE #242 TEAM PICK!!

 New Challenge with AAA Cards Challenge, Join us!

Hi all!

Welcome to another challenge with AAA Cards Challenge!  This time, we have a sketch to help guide you, join us won't you?

 

For this card, I used a new Pretty Pink Posh set I received from the recent Pink Fresh Create and Connect event.  This little stamp set comes from the Hummingbird Florals and is very simple and sweet, I had to use her for this sketch.  This set will be released by Pretty Pink Posh sometime soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Did you know that hummingbirds are different colors?  Just like we have different colors of hair, hummingbird feathers have different shades as well.  Up close they are so incredibly beautiful and don't weigh anything in your hand!  We had one fly into our sunroom one day and it kept bopping itself against the windows until I could catch it...I'm so glad it didn't get harmed too terribly.

These little birds were colored with alcohol markers in the same 4 shades, Dew Drops, Citrus Burst, Pink Pearl and Frayed Leaf.  All four of these are my favorite colors, so I thought I'd add this to the current Tic Tac Toe challenge using the diagonal, CAS, Free and Favorite Colors.  They were then die cut so they could be arranged at different angles.

The sentiment is included in this set, and I adore the script used!  A perfect ending to a sweet CAS card!  Now go create your own card based on the sketch and share it with us in the AAA Cards gallery, we look forward to seeing it!

Have a colorful day!

Birthday Bokeh

 A Bokeh Birthday with The Stamp Market

Hi all!

It's time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards Challenge blog!  The theme this time is Birthday themed Anything Goes.  So as long as its a CAS birthday card, you're in!  

I have to apologize for my photos, I have a new phone and new editing software I'm trying to figure out, so the photos aren't as crisp as I like them.  You'll get the general idea with them...I hope.  Any suggestions on editing software for an IMac?  I'm on the struggle bus here...

Any hoo...the card front was ink blended using The Stamp Markets Bokeh stencil set with Altenew's Frosty Pink, Sunkissed, Citrus Burst and Dew Drops Crisp Dye Inks using their fantastic mini blending brushes.  A background of the colors were added first, then repeated inking the colors using the 2 stencils in the set to create the colored panel on the card front.

The birthday sentiment is from one of my most favorite Simon Says Stamp sentiment sets, called Elegantly Modern Greeting.  It's a great basic set for any card maker, highly recommend.  It was stamped and heat embossed with Altenew gold embossing powder, then the 'birthday' was die cut with the coordinating die to create the window.  5 more pieces of card stock were cut and glued together to create the shaker element.  It's not how I would normally create a shaker card, but I thought I'd give it a go with this...don't think I'll do it this way again however.  Close up you can see the layers through the window, so I think I'll stick to my traditional foam core technique.  It also gives the shaker elements space to move more freely.

The sequin shaker pieces are iridescent in the same colors of the inks making it the perfect addition to the card.  The sentiment is finished off with a stamp from the same SSS set and a few confetti bits were added for more sparkle.

Now go whip up a CAS birthday card for your stash, and be sure to share it with us over at AAA Cards for a chance to be a guest designer!  Give those DT's some love too while you're at it...

Have a colorful day!

Home is where my heart is...

 AAA Cards Challenge with NEW stamp sets!

Hi all!

Its time for another fabulous challenge at AAA Cards!  This time we have a sketch...what will be your take on it?

I used this adorable set from Simon Says Stamp called European Streets.  The background was masked to fit the challenge sketch, then stamped with the snow and brick images in the coordinating set.  It was then heat embossed with Altenew white powder.  Altenew's Fresh Dye inks in Dew Drops, Teal Cave and Navy were ink blended for the background to make the embossing pop.

Attempting to make the townhouse look 'snowy', the window image from the 3 layer stamp set was heat embossed with white powder.  Going along with this month's Simply Clean and Simple challenge, using a little pink, I opted to make the house my favorite color...well, one of them anyway.  The first and second layers were then stamped in Altenew Rose Quartz and Puffy Heart, with the awning colored with the coordinating alcohol markers from that color group, Cosmic Berry and Purple Wine.

To help take the 'snowy' effect home, glitter Stickles were added along the windows, awing, snow piles a few of the snowflakes and top of the building.  The card was finished with the sentiment from the set.  Easy CAS card with PINK for the challenges!

Now...show me your creation using the sketch, and be sure to visit the DT and show them some love as well.

Have a colorful day!

Forgetful XOXO - TIC TOCK CHALLENGE 239 TEAM PICK!

 Hi all!

It's time for another AAA Cards Challenge!  This time we have a photo inspiration for you and it's beautiful in its simplicity.

See what I mean?  I love the texture from the white hearts against the red color of the 2 hearts.  It's a great inspiration for a CAS card, don't you agree?

Here is my take on the photo.  The new Simon Says Stamp Puppy Love stencil is ADORABLE!!  Look at those little toe beans...  Used with a swipe of some Altenew Embossing Paste and the perfect background to match the photo was made.  SO FUN!

The 'XO' die for the main sentiment has been floating around my studio for...well, years I guess?  During one of my 're-organization' days, it fell out of my old die storage case and I since I used to throw away packaging, I'm clueless...I don't do that anymore...any idea?  I'd be forever grateful for your brilliance...I've Google searched and get nada.  Anyway, it's really pretty cut Red Spinel glitter card stock from the Altenew Gradient Glitter Cardstock Red collection, against the texture behind it.

The added sentiment was stamped on a piece of card stock die cut with Altenew's Featured Sentiments Die set.  Using one of their sentiment strip dies is so handy for these little stamp sentiments.  This one stamp is from Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Greeting.  I'm eager to use this set more, its a fantastic basic set with beautiful fonts...highly recommend!

I'm also entering this in the Inspirational challenge USE STENCILS and the Tic Tac Toe challenge, down the left side of the board; heart, red and die/punch.

 

Be sure to visit all our DT and give them some love, have a colorful day!!