CAS(E) This Sketch #356

It's been a while since I've participated in the CAS(E) This Sketch challenges.  The current sketch is a very interesting one and there's lots of fun cards in their gallery.

I took such a simple approach to the sketch that I actually feel like I cheated.  *blush*

You might be thinking..."Oh, but look at how complicated those stitched lines are!"  And......you would most definitely be mistaken.  LOL!  Big impact with a single pass through the die cutting machine.  (Cheated, remember?)  

I used the die set shown below.  I've had for a long time and absolutely adore it but I'm not sure who made it.  (I want to say it's from MFT but it's not on their current website.)  If you happen to know, please leave me a comment below so I can get it labeled.  (Thanks!)

In a nutshell, I positioned the die at a diagonal on my card front and ran it through my die cutting machine to produce the stitched lines.  For my sentiment, I used a Thanks die and it's accompanying outline shadow (Simon Says Stamp/CZ Designs) and finished it off with a trio of three matte dots from Gina Marie Designs.  

I slapped that puppy to a coral card base and called 'er done.  I'd say it doesn't get much simpler but wait until you see Wednesday's card.  *wink*

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

Library Craft Challenge #51

I've been absent from Marina's challenge blog for far longer than I'd like.  I want to "make all the things" but alas, sometimes life just plain gets in the way of all the fun.  Yesterday I made it a point to create a card with her current book inspiration in mind.   You can find her challenge blog here at The Library Challenge blog.  Today's book is.....

 

I have no doubt that there aren't hundreds of different cover version but this one is just darling.  I was drawn to the stone wall and the color red in particular.  I searched my newer stamp sets and found the perfect one.  

This Nose to Nose set from Penny Black came with a Christmas sentiment but I think it works beautifully as an all occasion card and in this case, possibly a Valentine.  I started by stamping the focal image onto a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock, 110 lb.  I then stamped this same image onto a piece of masking paper which I adhered over the top of my focal image.  To create the stone background I inked over a Crafters Workshop stencil with a light beige dye ink.  The bottom area was blended out with a couple of Catherine Pooler dye inks in a green hue.  I then colored the images with Copic alcohol markers and added the panel to a second panel of Solar White die cut with a scalloped edge rectangle made by WPlus9.  The sentiment I chose is from a set made by The Stamp Market.  To finish off my card I added a few die cut hearts that I colored with the same red Copics.  

I think they make a darling version of Romeo and Juliet, do you not agree?

If you have some spare creative time, come show Marina some love.  Her challenges are always fun and really get you to thinking.  

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

Seize the Birthday #181

I'm giving my stencils a bit of love this week by playing along with the folks over at the Seize the Birthday challenge blog.

For today's card I chose a brick background stencil from MFT Stamps and inked it up with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  I offset the image to create the feel of a building in the background.

The stamped images are from a cute little set by Waffle Flower Stamps.  This will be a belated birthday card for a friend.  (I am not starting the year out right with regard to birthday cards.)  I plan to add a little something inside about being slow.  *wink*  The birthday greeting is from an older Clearly Besotted sentiment set.

These sweet little images were all colored with Copic alcohol markers.  I'm really happy with the way they turned out and can't wait to color these up again for another card.

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

Inspired By Laurel

Today's card was, as the name of the challenge states, Inspired by Laurel.  The prompt this week is Quiet.

I chose to focus on the colors and the shutters rather than the word prompt.  With the exception of the sentiment, my card was created with die cuts only.  

The window die set is from Gina Marie designs.  The kitty and the 'very hard to see' birdhouse in the background are dies from Poppystamp.  Here's a closer look....see it way off to the right?  LOL!

The card base is 100 lb Neenah Desert Storm but the remainder of the card stock is my 'go to' favorite of Rustic Cream from PaperTrey Ink.  The colors of the various elements were created by blending Catherine Pooler inks onto the cardstock.  I backed the window with vellum and inked just a bit of color onto the back before adhering it to the card base.  I didn't have a sentiment in mind while designing the card and in the end decided it would make a nice sympathy card.  I'm curious as to what would you have chosen.

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

CAS Colours & Sketches #354

The weeks are flying by, aren't they?  It's Tuesday once again and time for another color challenge over the the CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge Blog.  Karen is our hostess for January and she has chosen this pretty color combination for our use this week.

While the colors are designated according to Stampin' Up names, you may use any coloring mediums of choice (markers, inks, watercolors, pencils, papers, etc) as long as you stick to the chosen color palette.

I know I said in an earlier post that I planned to use my new goodies first but of course even I don't listen to myself.  But I did one better and dug deep into my stash of older stamps and pulled out two sets from Gina K Designs.

If I'm not mistaken the image is from a past card kit that is no longer available however the sentiment can still be purchased here.  I used Copic markers to color the image.  I was able to match up the blue and rose hues pretty well but lacked a better match for the green.  Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have, right?  I also used my Copics to tint the white clay hearts that I added as a simple embellishment.  

I have lots of friends celebrating January birthdays so this one won't stay in my possession long.  I hope you'll come and play along with us.

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

Inspired by Challenge

I'm coming in close to the wire on this one but I always try to make time to play along with Laurel at  the Inspired By Challenge Blog.  The challenge this time around is Hot Chocolate.

This certainly looks yummy!

Because I'm a Florida girl (and most of my cards go to my local friends) I decided to go with the color scheme which just happens to be one of my favorites.  You can't go wrong with black, red and cream (or white for that matter).  I dug in to my stash and came up with this....

Center stage is a coffee cup die exclusive to Simon Says Stamp which I paired with a sentiment from an exclusive Ellen Hutson stamp set called Totally Random Sayings.  (See how I got both of my favorite online stores into one focal point?)  The postage card die is from Avery Elle and that awesome sweater background is from the Ink Blot Shop.  (I certainly don't wear cable knit sweaters here but I LOVED this stamp.)  Here's a closer look....

To create the texture I stamped the background image onto Rustic White card stock from PaperTrey Ink usingVersamark ink and then heat set it with clear embossing powder.  It came out so pretty!  The striped paper is from an MFT Stamps paper pack and the hearts were cut from an old Martha Stewart punch.  I added a thick layer of Nuvo Crystal Glaze over the hearts to create the shine.

I had a lot of fun creating this and my version is ready to send to any of my Florida friends.  

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules

CC&S #353

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another challenge over at the CAS Colour & Sketches blog.  This time around we are using a sketch from Karen.

I recently missed the birthday of a friend.  (For the record, I didn't forget the birthday.  I just didn't get the card sent out due to an unplanned weekend trip.  Just want to be clear on that.  LOL!)  I filed that original card away to use at another time and created a new card specific to the occasion.  I gave it a rustic feel since the recipient is male but I think it would work for anyone.

The stamps are all from MFT.  The striped paper is from Memory Box (am I the only one who didn't know they had their own paper line???).  The background frame impression as well as the note card are from Paper Trey Ink.  (The frame is actually a die that I ran through my machine with an embossing pad to create the texture without actually cutting through the card stock.)

I hope some of you will play along with us this week.  I'll be back next Tuesday with another color challenge.  

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Thank you for visiting my little crevice of the crafty blogosphere.  Your time, comments and friendship are much appreciated.  

Happy Crafting!

Jules