CAS on Friday Challenge with ALTENEW's Rustling Leaves!

Hi all!

It's Friday, so you know what that means...it's a new challenge day at CAS on Friday!  This time, we are wanting you to show us you're ready for a change of seasons...create a clean and simple card with LEAVES.  Easy enough right?

I chose to pull out my favorite leaf set from Altenew called Rustling Leaves.  The great thing about Altenew products is they have coordinating products for nearly every item they have.  This is not a stamp set, but actually a betterpress plate.  This plate does have coordinating dies, an embossing folder and stencil set.  I chose to use the stencil and press plate for this project.  

To keep this card in-line with seasonal colors, I choose the Fall Harvest color family of Altenew crisp dye inks.  I last used this set in April and realized I may not have cleaned it well before I put it away!  When the initial inking with Butternut ink was done, there were little flecks of black ink in the press.  It looked pretty cool, so I continued on and did a second press with Yellow Ochre so the leaves would appear to be in the foreground.

The rest of this card was so easy with the coordinating stencil set, I inked the foreground leaves with Pumpkin Pie and Olive inks and that was it!  The sentiment from the stamp set was added with the same Yellow Ochre ink and a few enamel dots to complete the card.

Now, let's see what you will create for our LEAVES challenge!  Have a colorful day!

EASY CAS card with an Altenew Craft Your Life kit!

 EASY CAS card with an Altenew Craft Your Life kit!

Hi all!  What a crazy start to summer!  In the last 5 days, I brought my oldest daughter home from college this week, hosted a cookie decorating class which meant I needed to bake 12 dozen cut-out cookies, it was my youngest's last day of school yesterday and I left today for the holiday weekend with my hubby to camp in Petoskey Michigan.  It will be nice to get a little break from life, but it's hard to leave when there is so much that needs to be done around the house to prepare for the summer!

CAS card designs are PERFECT for a busy mom.  This is for our new challenge at CAS on Friday BIG HUGS.  To make this card even easier to whip out in no time...using Altenew's Craft Your Life kit.  Seriously, it comes with EVERYTHING you need to make gorgeous cards....dies, stamps, embossing folders, and stencils.  I just love them!

This card uses Altenew's Sunshine Flowers CYL kit.  Perfect for this challenge since the sentiment in the kit has 'big hugs' in 2 different sizes included...total score.  Altenew's Molded Lines stencil was ink blended with Warm Sunshine onto the card base for the background.

Using the kit's stamp and coordinating stencil, the flower was created with Altenew's Wisteria, Hydrangea and Ultra Violet for the petals; Buttercream and Warm Sunshine for the center and Minty Mint; Volcano Lake and Lagoon for the leaves.  After stenciling, the black outline stamp was added and die cut with the coordinating die.  Finally, it was also embossed to give it some subtle texture with the matching embossing folder.

After the flower was finished, it was cut in half...gasp....and added to the bottom of the card.  To finish the card, the bigger 'big hugs' sentiment was stamped with Obsidian ink and 3 enamel dots were added.

Now go make a huggable CAS card and share it in our gallery now!  We love to see your work!  Have a colorful day!

Manifest some SUNSHINE!!

Manifest SUNSHINE with the CAS on Friday challenge using The Stamp Market and Altenew!

Hi all!

It's time for another challenge with CAS on Friday.  This time we are manifesting the need for SUNSHINE!!  I don't know what kind of weather you have where you are, here in Ohio, it's been pretty dreary with only a few hints of sun popping here and there.  Help us manifest more sunshine by creating some of your own sunshine projects too!

This card started with Altenew's Rainbow Burst scene-building stencil and using their Pocket of Sunshine color family was an obvious choice.  FYI, this stencil comes with a coordinating foil plate which is glorious with it.  Each of the 3 the stencils were inked with the lightest of the graduated inks to create the rays of the sun.

For the sentiment, the new-to-me stamp set from The Stamp Market called Arched Greetings 2 had the perfect sentiment to help keep this a CAS card.  An option for this design would be to die-cut the arch from the corner of the panel for a window and stamp the sentiment along the edge.  However, to keep this as simple as possible, the sentiment instead was stamped on the outer portion of the rays.

The center of the stencil leaves a white spot.  A circle sentiment would be perfect for it, but instead a large enamel die from the perfectly matched Pocketful of Sunshine collection was added.  In hindsight, the yellow border isn't needed at all.  Funny how you don't notice those kinds of things until you're posting them on the internet!

Now help us manifest more sunshine and join us for our challenge at CAS on Friday.  Have a sunny, colorful day!

Spring CAS BetterPress rainbow!

NEW Spellbinders BetterPress Arched Messages for the CAS on Friday Spring Challenge!

Hi all!

Welcome to another CAS on Friday challenge, this time our theme is SPRING!  You can interpret the theme any way you'd like, but make sure it is CAS...AND since I am a guest designer for Spellbinders' April release, I decided to feature this fan-tabulous BetterPress set called Arched Messages.

 

I love the look of the pressed image, it's so classy and traditional.  When I received my very first letterpress wedding invitation, I was so enamored with how beautiful it was.  I wanted to figure out how to create that look with what limited supplies I had 20+ years ago...little did I know it would become so easy for me to do!  The trick for the embossed stamped look is the paper, but the system can be used with regular card stock too, it just won't have the super embossed look depending on the thickness of your card stock.  I chose to use the cotton paper they recommend with the system.

The great thing about the Arched Messages set is each arch is its own separate plate, that way you can use multiple colors with it.  Hence...the rainbow for my spring card!  This set also comes with a super handy...and brilliant...registration template made from thin acetate to help create a perfectly aligned arched image.  I used Altenew's Summer Dreams color group for my rainbow colors since I have them on hand.

After I completed the rainbow and sentiment, the panel was trimmed and was placed on a light blue card base to give the hint of sky color.  I also added the white sequins in various sizes to create my sparkly clouds, it's super fun right?...can you tell I'm an 80's chick?😂😂😂.    I'm also playing along with the JUGS, and Simply Clean and Simple challenges this week.

    

Now head over to CAS on Friday for more inspiration from the DT and play along!  Maybe even try a letterpressed card yourself?  Have a colorful day!!

Late to the game...

Tim Holtz Distress Inks...who knew?

Hi all!

Welcome to another challenge with CAS on Friday!  I am so grateful you are here and hope you find inspiration for your personal creating.  Be sure to visit each of our DT's blogs and hear about their processes...you never know what you'll find out!

Like here's a little tid bit I bet you didn't know....I have never used Distress inks.  I know...for shame!  I am very late to the Tim Holtz Distress Inks game.  I purchased a bunch back in the fall, but just now pulled them out to see what the hype is about.  I don't understand the magic that these ink posses, but I think I get it!  The texture of the inks are so creamy without being sloppy and they do blend like a DREAM!  

Using Pickled Raspberry, Mowed Lawn, Faded jeans, Villainous Potion and Hickory Smoke with Spellbinders sponge applicators and the Altenew Circle Mask and Stencil, the little glimpse into space is the perfect backdrop for my 'vintage' rocket stamp.  The stars are water splatters as well as splatters from metallic silver, blue and black watercolors.

This stamp is one of the very few maculine stamp sets I have in my extensive collection.  I probably should get a few more with a hubby, dad, brother and 2 nephews in my life!  They are sorely neglected.  Any hoo, this is an old Papertrey Ink set called Out of this World.  They have a new one in its place if you're looking for a cute outerspace set.

After stamping the sentiment with Altenew obsidian ink, cute little enamel stars were added to complete this little space scene.  I think I'll pop this card into the mail to my little nephew, he fell and cracked his knee cap over the weekend and hopefully it will cheer him up!

Now go check out the other DT's masculine cards to help ignite your creative process, I know I will be!

Have a colorful day!

Noted Hearts

Simon Says Stamp Noted Hearts for CAS on Friday

Hi all!

Welcome to another challenge at CAS on Friday!  This fortnight's challenge is VALENTINE'S!!  I used to love to exchange the little paper valentine's when I was in grade school.  Making a pretty little bag...no boxes in the late 70's-early 80's.  We would tape them to the front of our desks then drop in our classmates bags...up and down the rows...  I once made mine, it didn't go over well.  They were a hot mess, but also, kids didn't do that back then!  It was considered...weird...if they only knew how weird I would get!!🤣🤣🤣

First, I need to apologize for the quality of the photos.  My phone took a nose dive on my weekend trip to NOLA...it was innocent!  It fell out of my pocket when I was climbing out of a carriage tour, so no alcohol was involved even though I was at Mardi Gras.  Only the camera part and back were damaged which leaves the pictures a little wonky.  Coupled with the fact I am still working on learning my new computer with its' editing software, and it's a perfect storm for weird photos!  I'll be getting it repaired this weekend, but until then, hopefully we can endure it...  

This card features a new set from Simon Says Stamp Smitten collection called Noted Heart.  It's so cute and perfect for making tags and valentines for school aged kids and teachers.  Since I used to be a teacher, I think that is why I love this set so much!  The set has a variety of sentiments to go with the main statement, but since I love EVERYTHING about my high school aged daughter, I went with that. 

The notebook paper heart was stamped with Ocean Waves Crisp dye ink and little hearts with Coral Berry and Ruby Red.  The photo doesn't show the difference in the color...thank you broken camera...and I added red Stickles to the solid heart to make them pop!  Everything was stamped on a card front panel die cut with My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangle Die set and added to a card base.

That's it for this week!  Be weird like me and make your Valentine cards, then share them with us in our gallery, we love to see your work.  

Have a colorful week!

Simple winter wishes...

 Hi all!

It's time for another CAS on Friday challenge!  This time around, we are focusing our challenge on WINTER...appropriate since winter has reared it's ugly head in the US this last week.  My daughter even had school cancelled because it was TOO cold...no snow...just cold.

In keeping with the cold...and in my opinion, if it's going to be cold, there may as well be snow...I decided to create a very simple CAS winter snow themed card and am also entering it into the Simply Clean and Simple challenge...Winter.

The background was created using Hero Arts Snowflake stencil and Altenew Embossing paste.  After allowing that to dry, Altenew Iridescent shimmer spray was sprinkled for a subtle effect...you can see it in the first photo and on the little house. 

Speaking of the little house, it was in my scrap bin from an earlier card using My Favorite Things My Neighborhood.  I did add some Stickles glitter to the house for some shimmer.  The sentiment was added using Simon Says Stamp CZ Designs Season's Greetings stamp set with Altenew Teal Cave ink.  An incredibly simple CAS card!

I hope this and the other DT's creations inspire you to create a WINTER themed card, so be sure to share it with us HERE and visit the other DT's and give them some love!

Have a colorful...and hopefully warmer...day!