DOUBLE PUG HUGS

 Hello! 

Playing along with this CAS Colours and Sketches challenge 

The pug was stamped directly onto the card panel in Memento black ink as shown, and then the heart was stamped in red. They were colored with alcohol markers, and to give a feeling of dimension I outlined the pugs with a neutral warm gray marker. Noses got a dab of Glossy Accents for a wet nose effect. Sentiment was stamped repeatedly with SU Blushing Bride. 

SUPPLIES

Pug, sentiment and heart stamps - Simon Hurley Big Hugs clear 

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HELLO THERE CAT

 Hello!

Playing along with this Word Power challenge, where the sentiment is to be the most prominent, and this As You Like It challenge, where the question of the moment is Cute or Elegant (and why). I’ve tried every style and color combo over my years of stamping, and enjoyed them all, but definitely I’ve landed in the cute and colorful arena. There is so much in the world that is hard and confusing - I enjoy the light and lightness and visual clarity I think I’ve finally achieved in my current CAS style, while still producing some elegance feels sometimes 😃

It’s hard to see in the photo, but the sentiment is a gradient, stamped with lighter purple a few times and then over stamped with darker ink on the bottom two thirds. (And of course I ended up with a piece of lint, or cat hair, on the hello stamp on the last impression 😂)

Sky and grass were stenciled, Critters were stamped in caramel colored Memento ink, colored in with alcohol markers, die cut, then elevated with very thin foam tape. I wanted to keep everything feeling very flat because of the sweet, goofy, one dimensional style of the cat and dragonflies, and I think the flat back googly eyes I gave the cat add to this vibe pretty well.

SUPPLIES

cat and dragonflies stamp & die set - Elizabeth Craft Designs Purr clear by Krista Schneider

word stamps - Ranger Letter It by Taylor Huizenga clear set

grass stencil - Taylored Expressions

cloud stencil - A Colorful Life

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IT’S YOUR DAY BALLOON

Hello! 

Playing along with this Freshly Made Sketches challenge 

and this Seize the Birthday challenge 

The box was resized, to help it fold flatter in an envelope, by moving the front corner seam fold lines further in a bit. Balloon pattern was made by laying leftover strips of colored card stock onto a base cardstock covered with Scrapbook.com double-sided adhesive in A2 card size and then die cutting. Balloon highlight cutout is backed with a scrap of translucent sparkly white vellum. Recessed areas of the embossed background panel were filled in with a sparkly Wink of Stella pen (my pen had gotten down to not enough to squeeze out so I put some rubbing alcohol in a small shallow dish, unscrewed the part attached to the barrel, squeezed as much air out of the barrel as I could and while still holding it in that position, flipped it upside down and, placing the hole into the alcohol, released the barrel sides to suck up some of the alcohol. Pretty sure this is not manufacturer recommended but it seemed to work 😂)

SUPPLIES

box die - Spellbinders Surprise Box set

balloon die - Simon Says Stamp Life is a Party set

words stamp - unmarked secondhand clear set

rays embossing folder - Altenew Carnival Canopy

other - gold twine

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CREATE SOMETHING

 Hello!

Playing along with this Sunday Stamp sketch challenge 

Scissor was die cut out of matte silver and brown cardstock, fixed together with a metal brad, and the handles elevated with tiny foam pop dots.

SUPPLIES

scissor die - Spellbinders Field Notes Tools 

words stamp - Spellbinders Paint Your World Sentiments clear set

stitched border die - MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle

patterned paper - Stampin’ Up! (retired)

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PINK TEA

 Hello!

Playing along with the Addicted to CAS challenge

This card was extremely straight forward to make. I stamped off most of the ink on the large dotted circle so it would fade into the background. The steam was stamped in a charcoal gray ink to lighten it up a bit but still tie into the black sentiment. Just a few random flat back dots to add a little interest. 

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - unbranded clear set

cup and steam stamps - Stampin’ Up! Definitely Decorative Tea Time set

 dotted circle stamp - Picket Fence Polka Dot Grunge

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BIRDIE WITH A BALLOON

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I never met a bird image I didn’t love and this little guy is a treat - just happy to be invited to the party 🎉 

Playing along with The Paper Players challenge

Bird was fussy cut and colored with alcohol markers. (The key here is to throw the towel in on delicate cutting and just stamp the bird image on the card base for the legs and tassel, and then fussy cut a duplicate colored-in body stamped on scrap cardstock to mount over it.) Bird and balloon elevated with foam tape. Actual twine tied to balloon and affixed inside box. 

SUPPLIES

box die - Spellbinders Surprise Box

bird and balloon stamps - Hero Arts Wonderful Birthday clear set

 dotted embossing folder - Tim Holtz

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