A Little CASE, A Little CAS

Happy Monday!  We are having a bit of a "heat wave" where I live, and we're supposed to see temperatures in the mid-70's today.  That is AMAZING for January in the Midwest!  I was almost ready to break out the shorts and t-shirts until then I saw that we'll dip back into the 20's and 30's for lows over the next couple of days.  It may not be time to pack my winter coat just yet!  But today we have lots of sunshine and beautiful weather, so it's not a bad way to start the week at all!

This week's Featured Stamper at Splitcoast Stampers is a crafter whose blog I have been following for awhile now, so I was excited by the challenge to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) one of her darling cards.  She makes the most amazing Clean and Simple (CAS) cards.  With this challenge, we pick a project from her gallery to CASE by changing at least two elements to create a new card.  

Here is a link to the card I chose to CASE: No Shoes

And here is my card: 

I kept the card's design and CAS style.  I changed the image and die cuts, and I used a stamped layer in place of her embossed layer.  

I started by stamping the coffee cup image twice on a piece of Natural White card stock using Rich Cocoa ink.  I fussy cut the entire cup from one image and the center circle only from the second image.  The image doesn't include a band on the card, so I created a band from kraft card stock and pieced it onto the cup.  I adhered the center circle over the band using foam tape to give it some dimension.  I die cut and embossed a layer from dark brown card stock and adhered the coffee cup to it.

I stamped the coffee beans on a piece of Natural White card stock, adhered it to a slightly wider piece of dark brown card stock and attached the panel to a Natural White card base.  I adhered the coffee cup layers, once again using foam tape.  I stamped the sentiment directly on the card base to complete the front of my card.

I'm working on several cards this week and plan to get them posted over the next few days, so I hope you'll visit again soon.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used:
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Stamp (cup image): My Cuppa Joe (Gina K. Designs)

Stamp (coffee beans): Espress Yourself (Stampin' Up!) 

Stamp (sentiment): Warm Cup of Coffee (Stampabilities)

Paper: Classic Crest Natural White 80 lb. (Neenah); brown and kraft card stock (unknown)

Tools and Accessories: Nestabilities Labels Eighteen (Spellbinders); Big Shot (Sizzix)

Fussy-Cut Flowers for Martha

Happy Thursday!  I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my creative goals for 2013 is to try new techniques.  One of my other creative goals is to use more patterned paper.  Matching patterns and colors doesn't come easily to me, so I've found that paper packs and matstacks are helpful because they coordinate well with each other.  I used a matstack for today's card and it definitely took away some of the frustration of choosing papers!  I also used fussy-cutting to create dimension with the pattern, which is another technique that is new to me.

I created this card for this week's Teapot Tuesday challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  This week our cards are heading to Texas for a sweet lady named Martha.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, Martha and her husband decided to take a short,  impromptu trip to New York with another couple.  While they were there, Martha's husband said he didn't feel well.  Moments later he died of a massive heart attack.  Martha enjoys handmade cards, so the Teapotters will be showering her with our best thoughts and wishes as we mail our cards to her.  We were encouraged to use fields of flowers or other peaceful nature scenes for our cards.

Here's my card for Martha:

This card has very little stamping; only the sentiment is stamped.  I started with a card base in natural white (a lovely off-white color).  I stamped my sentiment in Rich Cocoa on a smaller piece of natural white, then attached it to brown and green patterned papers from the Latte matstack collection.  I cut a large panel from the flowery patterned paper in the same collection, then used a second piece of the patterned paper to fussy-cut some of the flowers.  I popped those flowers  up on dimensionals and adhered them over the identical flowers on the larger panel.  

I didn't have the color of ribbon I wanted to use, so I grabbed some off-white ribbon and my New Sprout ink pad.  I dyed the ribbon by running the ink pad over it several times, then rubbing off the excess ink with an old cloth.  I adhered the ribbon to the patterned paper, then adhered the entire panel to the card base. Finally, I added my sentiment block over the ribbon with dimensionals.

It's hard to see the "popped-up" flowers in the first photo, so here's a slightly different view:

If you're inclined to make cards to send to others who could use a bit of sunshine, I hope you'll consider joining us for the next Teapot Tuesday challenge.  Everyone is welcome!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used:
Stamp: Close as a Memory (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Memento New Sprout (Tsukineko)

Paper: Classic Crest Natural White 80 lb. card stock (Neenah), Latte matstack (DCWV)

Tools and Accessories: Ribbon (Offray); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

Joyful Trees for Christmas

Yay, it's Friday!!  I don't know about you, but I could sure use a weekend! 

This week's Ways to Use It Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers asks us to use "fussy cutting" on a card.  Fussy cutting is cutting very carefully (usually with precision scissors or a craft knife) around an image, so it takes some extra time and effort.  I've also been a bit fascinated by a technique I've recently learned about called "inlaid embossing".  This technique involves adhering die cuts, layers, etc. together and then dry embossing those elements right into the paper.  There are so many possibilities for this technique, but for today's card I combined fussy cutting with inlaid embossing and kept my design fairly simple. 

Here's my card:

 

I started by fussy-cutting the trees from some patterned designer paper I had in my stash.  I tried to keep just a tiny bit of the border around each tree to help it stand out against the background.  I adhered the trees to a piece of dark green card stock in slightly uneven rows (intentionally this time!) and then ran the whole panel through my Big Shot using the Bow Strings embossing folder horizontally.  I stamped my sentiment in Pine on a piece of Natural White card stock (which is a lovely off-white color), then adhered the sentiment to dark green and kraft card stocks.  My kraft card stock isn't very heavy, so I lined the inside panel of the card with Natural White card stock to add support. 

 

I pulled a fiber strand from some off-white burlap I have in my materials stash and adhered it over my inlaid embossing panel. ( I love the slightly frayed look I can get from burlap.)  I attached the embossed panel to a card base made from kraft card stock.   I added some Glossy Accents to the "joy" sentiment and set it aside to dry.  I wanted this card to be understated, but just couldn't resist a tiny bit of shine!

 

I hope you are having a blessed Advent season  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Products Used:

 

Stamp: Naughty or Nice (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Ancient Page Pine (Clearsnap)

Paper: Solar Crest Natural White 80 lb. (Neenah); Cutesy Christmas Trees patterned paper (The Paper Studio); dark green card stock (unknown); kraft card stock (unknown)

Other: Burlap fiber; Glossy Accents (Ranger)