Twofer Card Challenge #38 – Cake/Cupcake

Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our yummy new Twofer challenge for May, where we’re inviting you to dig out your scrumptious stamps, dies and/or stencils and join us to enjoy some …

That yummy looking cake stamp (the common image on both cards) is from Reverse Confetti … it appears just as intended (along with one of it’s accompanying alligators) on my birthday card … and on the hello card, it’s been dressed up with the help of a little masking and subsequent doodling! How about a closer look at each one …

The central design here ensures the cake is the star of the show. It was masked and stamped onto some mixed media card stock, I doodled those extra layers of chocolate ganache and the cherry on the top … and coloured it with alcohol markers. There are lavish coatings of shimmer and shine on the ganache and cherry too … tricky to capture … and more visible on the first photo. The two word sentiment is shared between Simon Says Stamp and Winnie & Walter (sadly NLIB). The panel was mounted onto a couple of layers of vellum, popped up on craft foam and adhered to a mixed media card base that had been embossed with a Spellbinders die. You’ll notice that the vellum went a smidgy bit wobbly round the edges after it was dry … must be all that luscious ganache that did it … couldn’t have been anything to do with the wet adhesive I used!

My second card is clean, fun and whimsical …

Another simple design, with the heat embossed images and sentiment laid out along the bottom half of a watercolour card base. Everything was coloured with Zigs and a water brush … and I gave the alligator a dry embossed pathway to walk on … firstly to ground him … and secondly so he could advance on that birthday cake easily!

How about choosing a cake/cupcake image from your stash … to make two distinctly different designs … for two different occasions … we’d love to see you (and your cards) in our gallery!  All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious inspiration from the DT as well as from our super talented Guest Designer, Janet from Swanlady Impressions. Do go and have a gentle meander around Janet’s blog … there’s so much loveliness to enjoy and be inspired by … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My piled high cupcake is going over to …

AAA Cards – Up To One Third … no Mystical Beasts option

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

MFT Color Challenge – Poppin’ Pink, Carribean Sea, Jalapeno Popper, Vintage Timber

NBUS – Anything Goes … a little win from Reverse Confetti!

Papercraft Challenges – Fruits, Food and Vegetables

… and that cake craving crocodile (or alligator if you prefer, though the alliteration isn’t as good!) will be celebrating at …

AAA Birthday – Happy Birthday … congratulations on your 2nd!

Addicted to Stamps and More – Any Occasion

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash – Birthday … congratulations on your 8th!

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no Furry Friends topping

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy! Anita 🙂

Twofer Card Challenge #37 Reminder – Leaves

Hello … bonjour! I’m popping by with some more inspiration to tempt you to play along with us at Twofer this month … there’s a whole week left for you to join in with … 

Once again, as with my first set of Twofer cards last week, my common images here are those delicate Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … one for a birthday, one as a spirit lifter. Let’s have a closer look at each one …

This is a deliciously clean design, with the leaves cut in gold and pink, growing right next to the crisp white Concord & 9th stacked die cut. The supplementary sentiment is from Simply Graphic … it’s embossed in white and translates to ‘it’s your day’. The frame was embossed with a Reverse Confetti square die … I don’t have a rectangular one, so did a little extending (similar to partial die cutting).

My second card, while still clean, is a little more layered …

This design began with a sponged panel of Bristol card … in every green Distress Ink hue in my possession. I die cut seven of the open eucalyptus leaves from the different colours and layered them up round a Concord & 9th stitched circle die cut (to guide the shape) … and adhered the circle to the card base. The sentiment was stamped in navy inside the spring wreath (it’s from The Greetery) … and I finished with some tiny blue gems to mimic berries.

So … have you played along with us at Twofer this month?  If you haven’t, why not give it a go … and if you have, do feel free to play again.  We’d love to see your two distinctly different takes on Leaves.  All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore, both from the wonderful DT and from our talented Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram.  Look forward to seeing you in our gallery!

My birthday card is heading to …

Addicted to Stamps and More – Birthdays

Krafty Chicks – CAS

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … No Topping of Spring Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Clean and Simple

and my spring wreath will be lifting spirits at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash – Plant Life

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Clean and Simple

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy! Anita 🙂

Twofer Card Challenge #35 – Balloons

Hello … bonjour … and welcome back! Thanks so much for all your lovely comments and notes following my last post (eek … a month ago!), especially as I’ve hardly been around in blogland to make visits or leave comments as I usually would. I appreciate each of you … and am looking forward to being about a little more often from now on. Today, I’m here to tell you about our new challenge at Twofer … it’s such a happy one as our prompt is …

It always puts me in mind of a quote from Winnie The Pooh (well, A A Milne) … nobody can be uncheered with a balloon … how true … just try it!

I chose to make one conventional (birthday) card and one unconventional (Christmas) card this month … using a balloon stamp from Simon Says Stamp’s Big Birthday Wishes set. Here’s a closer look at them individually …

The balloons here are being held onto by a cool penguin from Ellen Hutson … and he’s balancing precariously on the birthday sentiment, which is made up of two different SSS sets. The penguin was lightly coloured with pencils … though his bright balloons, all shined up with glossy accents, are the star of this show. I added an embossed frame with a die from The Greetery … and kept it all deliciously CAS.

The balloons were turned upside down for my unconventional design …

… and became baubles hanging from a star strewn pine garland. The pine sprig is from Stampendous and was stamped multiple times in three different greens to give depth to the garland. The balloon baubles were stamped in red, I added the lettering using a Lawn Fawn alphabet set and topped it all off with a good dose of Glossy Accents to add shine. The supplementary sentiment is from WPlus9. I finished off with a scattering of gold stars … funny how they landed in just the right places to adorn the hanging strings isn’t it?

How about joining us with some stamped, die cut or stencilled balloons of your own … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with plenty of fabulous inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have Greta from GG Creations sharing her talents with us as our Guest Designer this month … welcome, Greta! Do go and enjoy an inspiring wander around Greta’s blog … there’s so much loveliness on display … and you can always say hello while you’re there.

My balloon toting penguin is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Birthdays

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

Papercraft Challenges – Heat or Dry Embossing

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … No Hearts Option

… and my balloon baubles are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes … No Berries Option

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy! Anita 🙂

Some Spring Flowers

Hello … bonjour!  First today, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments following my final Time Out Design Team cards/post … they were soooo appreciated … you warmed my heart and had me smiling all over my face … merci mille fois 🙂 .  In answer to a question that came up a few times … yes, I’ll definitely still be making cards … and will still be around in blogland … just not at Time Out (except as a player that is!).  So, onto a couple of cards (which is why you’re here!) … they both feature sunny spring flowers … and will be going into the galleries of various fun challenges that are going on at the moment.  Here’s the first …

… a simple stamp-layered, colourful, one layer card using an older image from Concord & 9th (Flourish) … and a sentiment from Simon.  This clean, whimsical, bright card is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks – All Occasions … where the lovely Bobby is GD this month

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no Food/Drink option

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Flower Power

The Card Concept – Hello Spring Inspiration (below) … style is CAS/One Layer

     

            

My second card is more layered … though it is still clean …

All the images and the sentiment here are from Papertrey (One Big Happy and Birthday Cheer).  The Happy Birthday was heat embossed in platinum onto a panel of white card … and popped up onto the base.  The stamped and die cut flowers and leaves were then arranged above and below the edges of the panel, some flat to the base, others popped up on different layers of foam tape.  This card is going to be playing along at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Ink To Paper Project Reach Out – Flower Cards

Just Us Girls – Photo Inspiration (below)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Flower Power

 

           

I hope and pray that you’re all continuing to stay safe and well out there … keep crafting and keep smiling!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!   Anita 🙂

Twofer Card Challenge #26 – Rain/Umbrella

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means we have a fun and fabulous new challenge for you at Twofer!  This month we’re inviting you to join us with your takes on …

I went with rain … though there is an umbrella on one of my cards …My common image is a stencil from MFT (Mini Staggered Raindrops), a sweet gift from Barb G … thanks, my friend!  It’s used conventionally with these cute critters on the I’m Here For You card and unconventionally on the vibrant, graphic Hugs card.    Here’s a closer look at each one …

My design here is based on a central panel with a wide border all around it.  I coloured the die cut critters and brolly (Lawn Fawn, from my Lake House stash) with coloured pencils and set them aside.  Their background was created using hand cut masks and blended Distress Inks … and was finished with the stencilled raindrops.  The critters were adhered into place … with both of them holding tightly onto that brolly.  You’ll notice that this is no ordinary umbrella … it’s one that when opened, shines bright, warm sunshine on those under it.  So not only are these cuties being sheltered from the rain … they’re also basking in the gentle, comforting glow around them.  The sentiment from Simon provided just the words I was looking for.  I trimmed the finished panel, matted it onto grey card and adhered it to a top folding base card.

My unconventional design uses a panel that fills the central third of my card …

I masked a single line of raindrops on the stencil and went to work with a host of Distress Ink colours, sponging one line at a time and shifting the stencil over to fill in the gaps between the rain drops that you see on my first card.  As each line was completed, the stencil was cleaned off, moved down a quarter of an inch … and I started again with the next colour.  When the panel was finished, it was trimmed and popped up on craft foam over some washi edging, on a side folding landscape card.  The black sentiment (Papertrey … also a gift from Barb G 🙂 ) was triple stacked onto white and adhered over the rainbow panel.

How would you like to join us with some rain/umbrella cards of your own … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery!  Whether you choose rain or umbrella or both of them for your two distinctly different cards, please remember to use the same common image(s) for each of your designs.  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious and fun inspiration from the DT.  We’re joined this month by two talented Guest Designers … TK from Time 4 Kards and Rosi from Let’s Take Time … welcome ladies!  If you haven’t met these talented card artists yet, do go over and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll have a splendid time finding inspiration in bucket loads!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My sunny critters are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Spring … that spring shower!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Spring Mood Board … also spring shower!

The Cat’s Pajamas – Share Hope

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

… and my rainbow hugs are heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

Ink to Paper Project Reach Out – Sending Hugs And Rainbow Cheer

Perfectly CAS – Die Cuts

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Add Texture … that yummy pierced, stacked die cut

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

I’m hoping and praying that you’re all continuing to stay safe and well out there … keep crafting and keep positive.  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!   Anita 🙂

          

             

           

    

A New Challenge At Time Out – #159 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge has just started over at Time Out … for the next fortnight, we’d like you to be Inspired By Words … if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.  Those who are regular visitors here will know of my love of flowers … and will understand what I was drawn to in Cicero’s words … a garden …

     

On the base card, I used a mask and blended a circle of soft Distress Ink colours, reminiscent of a warm gentle sunrise.  The die cuts are all from Simply Graphic (a gift from Judith, thanks, my friend!) … the flowery edged circle was cut into a panel that matches the card base … and the leafy additions were arranged along the right side of it.  Everything was adhered flat to the base … with the leaves left free at the top to wave gently in the breeze!  The sentiment (a little hello) is also from Simply Graphic.

Most of the time, I only share one card for Time Out … but today is a little different, as this will be my last post as a member of the Design Team.  After close to six years of being part of this warm, encouraging and artistic team, stepping down wasn’t an easy decision to make … and I will miss being closely involved with such a fabulous challenge and such a talented group of card makers.  I would like to say an enormous thank you to my lovely friend … our wonderful and inspirational leader, Sandie, for her confidence and faith in me as a new designer … and to all my teamies, past and present, for sharing freely their support, kindness and talent over the years.  Thanks to all of you too, friends and players … it’s been a delight to see so many fantastic cards in our gallery week after week.  My final Time Out DT card is a bit of fun … and I hope it might bring you a smile.  Here, there’s a little guy happily living in the ‘garden’ …

The greenery is from Concord & 9th, cut from Distress Ink smooshed card stock, which is growing right alongside the stamped gravel path (Annabelle Stamps – NLIB).  The friendly escargot came ready stamped from Michele (merci, my friend) … and is popping out from the greenery to wish the recipient a happy birthday (in French as he’s multi-lingual … he also speaks English … and Snail, of course).  As it’s spring, he’s developed a lovely shimmer … and shine (a description he much prefers, rather than the s**** word more commonly associated with snails) .  You can tell from the look on his face he’s quite rightly proud of it … take a peek …

     

Where will Cicero’s wise words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you played along with us.  We’re sponsored this fortnight by Newton’s Nook … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will be offered a $25 store credit … and as usual, will be invited to Guest Design with the team in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our splendid DT!

My first card will be joining in the fun at …

Inkspirational – Spring

Papercraft Challenges – Pastel Colours

Perfectly CAS – Die Cuts

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Mood Board … bottom left (below)

The Flower Challenge – Spring/Autumn

… and Monsieur Escargot will be shining at …

AAA Cards – Made in Minutes (just under 15 … ultra quick for me!)

AAA Birthday – Dots and/or Stripes (that dotty gravel!)

Addicted to Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

CAS on Friday – Black, White And One Colour

The Male Room – Make Me Laugh

I hope and pray that you’re all continuing to stay safe and well out there … keep crafting and keep smiling 🙂 .  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

           

             

          

     

A Spring Flower And A Butterfly

Hello … bonjour … and bon dimanche!  We’ve had spring sunshine for a few weeks now … and temperatures that have been gently rising … and they’ve brought flowers and butterflies out in abundance.  So, here I am with a couple of spring cards that might bring a little warm sunshine to your day …

This one was made in less than 10 minutes as I used some goodies received from sweet friends … thanks so much, ladies!  Rosemary sent me the background panel  (sorry, maker unknown) … and Judith provided the stacked framed daisy (Pink Fresh Studio).  The flower frame was inked, spritzed, dried and adhered to the panel … I stamped the Pink Fresh Studio sentiment … and attached the panel to a card base.  Voilà … spring prettiness!

This little lovely is heading to (badges below) …

Bastel-traum – Frühling/Spring (new to me)

Papercraft Challenges – Pastel Colours

Pink Fresh Studio – Frame It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

The second card took a little more time …

The Uniko butterfly (my favourite) was stamped onto a mixed media panel and coloured with Zigs and a waterbrush.  To create a sense of movement, I added splatters in the same colours as the butterfly … and a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays.  The panel was popped up on craft foam onto a matching mixed media card base that had been edged with washi tape.  I love that the butterfly looks almost stained glass like!

He’s fluttering off to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Make Your Mark

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Stripes and Spots

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

I hope and continue to pray that you’re all staying safe and well out there … keep crafting and keep smiling 🙂 .  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!   Anita 🙂

         

         

Some Penguins And A Frog

Hello … bonjour … and bon dimanche!  I have a couple of designs to share today that are a bit of fun … and might even bring you a smile 🙂 .  After all, smiles are always good for us … maybe even more so than usual given what’s going on in the world.  Here ‘s the first …

This was made for someone with a Saint Patrick’s Day birthday … hence the colour palette.  The penguins are from The Cats Pajamas and were coloured with Zigs and a waterbrush.  As you can see, one of them stands out from the crowd with his dapper jewelled bow tie, black beak and yellow/orange feathers (as opposed to the yellow/orange beaks and black feathers of his compatriots).  They’re all standing on a stamped banner from Papertrey that was over stamped with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  This is such a fun set that can be used for masculine and feminine cards, depending on what colour palette is used … whoever said penguins had to be black in card making world?  Here are a couple of other masculine ones I made using the same design …

    

… and I’m thinking pink or coral feathers would be good for some feminine ones … and p’raps a necklace or maybe a bow on the hats … what d’you think?

These Saint Patrick’s Day birthday penguins are heading to (badges below) …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

CAS Watercolour – Luck Of The Irish

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes … no flower option

Seize The Birthday – Touch of Green

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes With A Masculine Twist

My second design is QACAS (Darnell-ese for Quick And Clean And Simple) …

The crimped frame die cut aperture is from The Greetery … a Penny Black Stickeroo frog leapt into the open space from inside the card (you can imagine my surprise) … and once he’d settled down a little, I nestled the birthday sentiment from Papertrey right by the celebratory balloon.  Here’s what he looks like when the card is upright …

… energetic chap isn’t he?

He’s bouncing over to (badges below) …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

CAS On Friday – Birthday

Penny Black Saturday – Anything Goes … maybe with the Think Spring option … he is springing!

Seize The Birthday – Touch of Green

I hope and pray that you’re all staying safe and well out there … keep smiling 🙂 .  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!   Anita 🙂

   

         

    

A New Challenge At Time Out – #155 – Inspired By Words!

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge has just started over at Time Out!  This time round, we’re having a double celebration … the 8th birthday of our fabulous sponsor, Uniko (congratulations to Bev and her Brand Ambassadors, past and present) … and Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is next Monday, 17 February (though we don’t have to wait till then)!  For the next fortnight, we’d like you to be Inspired By Words … it’s your birthday, so party and throw acts of kindness around like confetti.  I focussed on ‘birthday’ and made this …

      

The panel I used for my card is a piece of an experiment from the Lake House … using Lindy’s Magicals with yupo paper … isn’t it dreamy?  It has a subtle pearly shimmer too … though trying to catch that on camera proved tricky.  I die cut Uniko’s Originally Organic image from the panel … and stamped and silver heat embossed the stylised floral sprig inside it, onto the card base.  The panel was popped up on craft foam over the embossing and I added the sentiments … a silver die cut one from Simon Says Stamp … and the secondary one, made up of words from Uniko’s Birthday Sentiments, and So Much.   It’s so glimmery and shiny IRL it didn’t need any bling … so I left it without.  Voilà!

    

Where will our celebratory words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you played along with us.  As I mentioned earlier, we’re sponsored this time around by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will be offered an in stock stamp set of their choice … and as usual, will be invited to Guest Design with us in a future challenge.  The details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT … and from our talented Guest Designer … Sue from Sentimentally Sue.  Do go over and enjoy a visit with Sue … there’s so much loveiness to meander through … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My card will be joining in the fun at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes (no bling option)

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Uniko – Anything Goes (with Cool Winter Colours option)

Uniko’s 8th Birthday Linky Party – Birthday

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

         

Twofer Card Challenge #22 – Holiday Foliage – With A Twist

Hello … bonjour!  Our last challenge of the year has just launched at Twofer … and we’re inviting you to a rather festive celebration this month … and there’s a fun twist that you can use too, if you’d like to (see below).

Holiday means any holiday … and the greenery can be any foliage, plants and vegetation.  The greenery doesn’t have to be green … it can be any colour as long as you use the same stamp, die and/or stencil for your two different designs.

Now … what’s the twist?  Usually at Twofer, your two different designs need to be for two different occasions.  However, because so many of us are working hard to get our Christmas cards made, for this month only, you have the option of foregoing the two different occasions element of our challenge.  So, you may enter two Christmas or other holiday occasion cards, just as long as your two designs are distinctly different … or you can carry on as usual with two different occasions … it’s up to you!

My twofer features greenery that isn’t green at all … and I chose not to use the twist …

        

My common elements here are three die cut mistletoe and pine sprigs (from Simply Graphic).  They make up a lush foliage display on my thinking of you card … and a hanging mistletoe bundle on my Christmas design.  Here’s a closer look at each one.

The pink, grey and gold foliage was layered and adhered to a pierced white panel (Winnie & Walter) in the centre third of the card, offset to the right.  The sentiment (Clearly Besotted) was heat embossed onto mid grey card, I trimmed it into a banner and added a gold trim along the lower edge.  The banner was popped up on craft foam under the foliage and acts to ground it.  I used Nuvo Drops and Enamel Accents to add gold and white berries to the mistletoe sprigs … and scattered a few gold sequins to finish off.  The whole panel was adhered flat to an oyster grey card base.

My second design has a more simple look to it …

Here, I went with a central cluster of foliage hanging off a frame (Simply Graphic), to mimic the bundles of mistletoe hung over doorways at Christmas.  The kraft and white colour palette, with the tiny pops of red in the heart, berries and sentiment (Papertrey) has a clean, rustic feel … it puts me in mind of a cabin in snow covered woods.  Yep, I know mistletoe is green with white berries … but we’re card makers … and that means we can use artistic licence if we wish!

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on Holiday Greenery?  We would love to see what you create in our gallery, whether you use our Christmas time twist or not!  Details of how to play along, including rules and FAQs are at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of wonderful ideas from the DT to inspire you.  We’re delighted to have the lovely Nancy from Scrapper At Heart as our talented Guest Designer this month … welcome Nancy!  I’m sure you’ll have met Nancy already … but do go and enjoy her fabulous Twofer cards … and take the opportunity to have a meander round all the deliciousness on her blog while you’re there.  You can always say hello too!

My foliage display is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Thinking of You

Watercooler Wednesday – Tristan’s Feminine Anything Goes

… and my mistletoe bundle in joining in at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Tis The Season

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes (No Bah Humbug Option)

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

The Cat’s Pajama’s – Holiday

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂