CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Inspiration

Hello everyone!! It is Saturday here and I am so happy that the weekend is here. Even though I had a week off last week, it seems like I never had a vacation.

Today it is my turn on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog for some inspiration. I created a gate fold card-the first one I have ever made!

I started off by taking an 8 1/2" by 4 1/4" sheet of yellow card stock and scoring it on each end at 2 1/8." I then stamped the border from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Starlequin" in red dye ink.

Next I adhered two pre-made Kraft colored doilies on each side. I folded them directly down the middle and adhere them inside and outside the card.

I had watercolored two flowers in red from the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Mon Ami" set and used the matching dies to cut them out. I then adhered them to the front using foam adhesive. The large tulip tucks underneath the smaller tulip to keep the card closed. I adhered the sentiment banner, again stamped with a sentiment from "Mon Ami," onto the left side of the card. Since sequins are bit of an obsession with me these days, I had to adhere a few of those on the front too!!

Inside the card, I adhered a third Kraft doily that I had stamped a sentiment and butterfly from the CAS-ual Fridays "Be" stamp set.

This was so much to make that I think I will be experimenting with using some more of my CAS-ual Fridays Stamp sets to make some more gate fold cards.

Want to treat yourself to a New Year's shopping spree? Use my special code nora2017 to get 15% off at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamp Store.

I thank you for taking the time to stop by today. Have a fabulous day!!

Supplies:
Stamps-CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Mon Ami," "Starlequin" and "Be"
Dies-CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Mon Ami Fleur Fri-dies"
Paper-Bazzill (yellow and green), Canson Watercolor Paper, Recollections Kraft Doilies
Ink-Versamark, Ranger Archival Black, WPlus9 "Gala Red"
Other-sequins, Ranger Multi Matte Glue, Foam Adhesive, Gansai Tambi watercolor, MISTI Stamp Tool

Happy Friday, A Sympathy Card and Major Shopping

Hi everyone!! It is finally Friday and I am SO HAPPY for the weekend!! My daughter and my husband are at robotics for the whole day tomorrow and I am so HAPPY for some time to myself!!

Last month was a very dry month for me card wise. However, it did not stop me from buying stuff, much to my husband's chagrin. Every time I bought a Christmas present for someone it seems like I bought one for me!

I also got a full set of Tombow Dual Brush Markers from my husband for Christmas. My list wasn't that long (as you can see I bought stuff for myself!) and the markers were expensive so I would never have bought them for myself. Now to figure out how I will use them to their best potential!

I am waiting for two more orders this week and am OFFICIALLY on a buying freeze. I am going to aim for June but not sure if I can wait that long. 

My goal is to use all the products I have never used before, as well as purge a ton of stuff before I start buying again. The purging part is hard for me as I do not like to get rid of my craft stuff. I do eventually come around to using it and when I have given stuff away, I usually regret it. Am I the only one like this?

And now a card!! I created this for my friend who lost her mother last week. I used two Hero Arts stamp sets on this card. For the flowers I used "Color Layering for You Flower's Bundle" and for the sentiment I used "Prayers Stamp and Cut" set.

I have decided that since I have gotten the MISTI stamp tool, I love multi-step stamped images. I could go in and color the flowers to give them more depth but you don't need to.

I used two different Heidi Swapp Colorshine Mists on this-"Tinsel" and "Amethyst," as well as Tim Holtz Distress Stain in "Shaded Lilac" to get a kind of messy look. Death is messy so I think it was a perfect addition to this card.

I am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Start Afresh" and A Blog Named Hero's "New to Me" challenge as the prayers stamp set was a set that I had never inked up before.

That is all for me today. Tune in tomorrow for some inspiration for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by. Your taking the time to read my blog means so much to me!!

Thursday with Simon Says Stamp's "Time for Wine" and Mojo Monday Sketch

Happy Thursday!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day and the new year is treating you right.

During my dry spell last month, I entered some contests at a couple blogs and won some prizes. I though I would share them here with you.

The first one I won was from a "A Blog Named Hero." I commented on a card by Beverly, which I LOVE. She was so nice to send me the card as well as some yummy goodies. I cannot wait to sit down and color this stamps and use the fun gold goodies!!

Then I had another wonderful surprise of winning a prize for Uniko Studios blog hop. This is an English stamp company that I drool over. The owner, also a Beverly, sent me these adorable stamps. I will definitely be using these soon as I make my Christmas cards for next year!!

Then I received a nice surprise from Taunya Butler that blogs at Daisies Girl. She sent me that adorable card and some Simon Says Stamps dies. Wasn't that sweet?

Okay, now for a card I created using a Mojo Monday Sketch and my newly used Simon Says Stamp "Time for Wine" stamp and die set.

The sketch #478 was PERFECT to use with the sentiment and images from this SSS set.

As I do with a lot of my stamp sets, I stamped a ton of images and then colored them in all at the same time. I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers for all the wine bottle, glass, and leaves on my card.

I used a piece of Heidi Swapp striped paper left over from the card I posted yesterday and some patterned paper from the "Love Notes" collection by We R Memory Keepers that I bought last year. I thought the black and white color scheme was perfect with the purple.

The sentiment was stamped with Paper Trey Ink's "Simply Chartreuse" dye ink, as it matched the leaves perfectly.

When the card was completed, added some sequins randomly around the card.

I am entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's "New to Me" challenge as well as the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Start Afresh." Both the paper and the stamp set are things that I have never used before this week.

That is all from me today. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS Thursday!!

Supplies:

Stamp-"Time for Wine" by Simon Says Stamps

Ink-Ranger Archival Black, Paper Trey Ink "Simply Chartreuse"

Paper-Neenah Solar White Card Stock, "Love Notes" by We R Memory Keepers, "Favorite Things" by Heidi Swapp, Vellum by Paper Trey Ink

Markers-Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Spectrum Sparkle Markers

Dies-"Time for Wine" by Simon Says Stamps, "Stitched Circle Frame" by My Favorite Things

Other-Big Shot, Ranger Multi-Matte Adhesive, Glossy Accents, Sequins, 

First Post of the New Year and Some Cards

Happy New Year everyone!! I know I am four days too late but I think that is still okay to say, right?

You can hear echoes on my blog over the past month. The holidays kicked my butt and if that didn't take up my time, Charlotte wound up being sick right before Christmas and stayed out of school for a couple days.

Our Christmas was wonderful and we spent time with some of my family. Is it weird that I want to share this with you? I should have posted last week and it might be more relevant!!

Char in front of our tree before we unwrapped our presents. I didn't even gussy up my daughter and my husbands present as I usually do. I only did it for friends as I just didn't have the energy. I think I am going to wrap as I go along next year. Anyone do this?

Me and Charlotte at my sister's house. Trying to just be and not bother if the "perfect" photo is taken of me or not. One of my good friend's lost their mother last week and it just hit home having the photos is more important then looking perfect!

My nephews and niece with Charlotte.

I bought the game "Shut Your Mouth" and we had so much fun playing it with the family on Christmas day. Nothing but laughs!! I even have my Dad on video and it is something I will cherish!!

Charlotte and my niece. Cannot believe how grown up they are!!

Now for some cards!! To be honest, I have NOT been creating in a prolific way as of late. Me and my mojo had not been meeting up at the same time. When I wanted to create something, I didn't have the time. When I had the time, my mojo was no where to be found. I did do A LOT of shopping but THAT is a whole different post!

Anyway, on Monday I created a couple cards for some sketch challenges but as I always do, I never photographed them in time to submit. I decided to post them anyway.

I created this card using Freshly Made Sketches #268 as my inspiration.

I know, I know, it is a Christmas card BUT in my defense, I only created about five holiday cards this Christmas and decided I was not going to wait to the last minute to make Christmas cards in 2017. I used up ALL of the photo cards I ordered that I send out to close family/friends this year and resorted to having to send out some pre-made cards to a few people and was horrified! I also wanted to use this stamp set from Hero Arts called "Kelly's Noel." I bought it in November 2015 and NEVER INKED IT UP!!

Another thing I decided to start doing is to use patterned paper more on my cards. I have a ton but for some unknown reason in my head, I hoard it!! This paper is "Merry Little Christmas" from My Mind's Eye that I "think" I bought last year? I only have about ten 6" by 6" pads full of Christmas paper so who knows!!

I love the pink and green together. I think this kind of Christmas card is good because it is simple enough to be able to do in assembly line style and rather flat so it mails well.

For my next card, I used a sketch #157 from "Match the Sketch" Challenge Blog.

I used the Simon Says Stamp "Time for Wine" stamp set and dies that has been sitting on my desk for months.

I decided to experiment with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers for these fun images. I then covered many of them with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Marker and Glossy Accents. The Glossy Accents made the color run a bit but I think it looks kind of cool.

I used some Heidi Swapp patterned paper that I have been saving for the background. I like the black with the purple. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches "Free Spirits" stamp set. I needed something small enough to fit on the end of the flag and this was perfect.

I adhered one wine glass and the leaf with foam adhesive and the rest of the stamped images with Ranger Multi-Matte. The sequins were my last touch. I actually was only going to use three BUT I got a black smudge on the white banner where the big sequin is to the right. The addition of yet another sequin covered the boo boo right up!!

I love how this card came out and will share another card I created with this same set tomorrow.

Well, that is all from me tonight. I thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog. As always, your visits are appreciated.

Have a FABULOUS night!!

Card #1:
Stamps-"Kelly's Noel" by Hero Arts
Inks-"Soft Green," "Green Hills," "Bubble Gum" and "Red Royal" by Hero Arts
Dies-My Favorite Things "Pierced Square Stax" and "Blueprints #13"
Paper-Paper Trey Ink "Sweet Blush" card stock, Neenah Solar White card stock, My Mind's Eye "Merry Little Christmas" 6" by 6" paper pad
Other-Big Shot, Glossy Accents, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, sequins

Card #2:
Stamps-"Time for Wine" by Simon Says Stamps, "Free Spirits" by Paper Smooches
Dies-"Time for Wine" by Simon Says Stamps, "Fishtail Flags" by My Favorite Things
Paper-Neenah Solar White card stock, "Favorite Things" 6" by 6" paper from Heidi Swapp
Ink-Ranger Archival Black, Paper Trey Ink Smokey Shadow
Other-Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Ranger Multi-Matte, Big Shot, sequins, Crystal Spectrum Noir

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Snowflake Inspiration

It is Christmas Eve and my turn over at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog for a little inspiration. I created three projects for this post, all using some of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps snowflake dies and stamps.

My first project I created a thank you card.

I used CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Bring on the Snowflakes," "Snowy Sayings" and "Thanks" stamp sets for this card. I designed this card to be very simple so that I could easily whip up a ton to write my Christmas thank you notes.

I stamped the snowflakes from both snow sets in green, pink, aqua and lavender inks onto a blue card base. I then stamped the sentiment with black ink. I added a bit of sparkle to the snowflakes with glitter glue that matched the ink colors.

My next project I created for my "Secret Snowflake" I had at work.

I die cut snowflakes put of white paper scraps using the CAS-ual Fridays Fri-dies "Funky Flakes" and "Flurry," dies.

I then inserted die cut snowflakes in a clear envelope, added white flat and star sequins, as well as a gift card, and then fused them at the top. I have never done this technique before and thought the result was cool. I am now going to look at using my dies in fun, new ways.

I created a tag to match, stamping snowflakes from "Bring on the Snowflakes" and "Snowy Sayings" onto the large tag from the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Tag Buddies" die set.

Since I was not wrapping this gift up, the inks I used for the snowflakes matched the gift card.

If you like any of the projects here, the stamps and dies can be purchased from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps store. Use my code nora2016 to get a 15% discount.

I thank you for stopping by and wish everyone a magical Christmas!!

Supplies:
Stamps-CAS-ual Fridays "Bring on the Snowflakes," "Snowy Sayings" and "Thanks" 
Dies-CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Funky Flakes," "Flurry" and "Tag Buddies" Fri-dies
Paper-MFT "Berrylicious"
Ink-Ranger Archival Black, Hero Arts "Soft Pool," SSS "Jellybean," Hero Arts "Bubblegum,"  Hero Arts "Soft Purple," PTI "Summer Sun," PTI "Orange Zest," Hero Arts "Lavender," SSS "Doll Pink"
Other-Stickles "Lime Green," "Turquoise," "Lavender," and "Thistle," Big Shot Machine, Recollection Sequins, Ribbon. We R Memory Keepers Fuse tool

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