Twofer Card Challenge #37 – Leaves

Hello … bonjour! It’s the 10th of the month … welcome to our new Twofer challenge for April! In this part of the world, spring has sprung and green shoots are appearing all over the place … which means that inspiration is everywhere for our prompt this month … we’re inviting you to play with …

My common images here are Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … how about a more detailed look at each card?

My design here features a background of leaves cut from various previously created inky backgrounds, made using borrowed Brusho’s and Lindy’s Magicals (so there’s a little sparkle), adhered flat to the card base. A popped up centre frame draws the eye to the equally popped up Altenew hello and the WPlus9 secondary embossed words.

My second card is decidedly CAS …

I die cut the eucalyptus leaves from a few different card stocks and tied them together with a little natural twine. The die cut border is from SSS and was stacked three times to give it dimension, before being adhered to the card base. I hung the leafy cluster on the border and finished with a simply stamped sentiment from Mama Elephant.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on leaves … bet you have a few stamps, dies and/or stencils in your stash that are calling out to be played with … and we’d be delighted to see you (and your designs) in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Alison and Natalie … you’re sure to be inspired … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My fresh eucalyptus hello card is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Die Cuts – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Grow … all those leaves growing over the background!

and my CAS eucalyptus cluster is joining in at …

Clean and Simple on Friday – Happy Mail

NBUS – Anything Goes (first outing for these eucalyptus dies)

Time Out – Photo Inspiration (see below) … those soft blues/greens and white fencing

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

Twofer Card Challenge #33 – Stars

Hello … bonjour! We’ve just started our last challenge of the year at Twofer … and we have a fun twist that you can use, if you’d like to (see below). In addition, for this month only, in the spirit of joy and giving, our beloved leader, the lovely Darnell, is offering prizes! Check out the Twofer blog for more details. This time round, we inviting you to get twinkling with …

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 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!

I chose not to twist and used a Simon Says Stamp die as my common element … there are three sizes of stars that act as flower heads on the twiggy sprigs on my birthday card … and two of the same sizes that appear around the manger on my Christmas card. Here’s a closer look at each one …

I used a Simon border die (retired) across the bottom third of a card panel to ground the stamped twigs (from Concord & 9th). The stars were cut from pearlised card for a little subtle shine (it’s more noticeable on the first photo) … and were adhered flat over the sprigs. I attached the panel to the card base and added a white-embossed-on-black stamped sentiment, plus a die cut and stacked black-over-white word from Simon to finish. Clean and layered I think.

My next card is almost one layer, clean and simple …

On this centred design, the larger star shines it’s light onto the love-filled manger while the smaller ones adorn the garland under the sentiment. The stamped images are all from Taylored Expressions except for the wreath, which is from Newton’s Nook. I did a little pencil colouring on the wreath, added sparkle and shine to the heart and doodled the dots of light with a stylus and gold ink pad. There’s much more shimmer than there appears to be on this photo … look …

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on stars … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  All the details about how to play, including rules/FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of fantastic inspiration from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Pia from Pia’s Paper and Pearls and Liz from Crafty Sunflower … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Pia and Liz … you’re sure to enjoy all the wonderful design inspiration on display at both their blogs … and you can always say hello while you’re there too!

My twiggy, starry flowered sprigs are heading to …

Day Of The Month Club – Use Your Head Day (making flowers from stars used my head!)

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes (no 1, 2, 3 option)

Time Out – Festivals (with the glimmer option)

… and my Christmas manger is joining in at …

Clean and Simple on Friday – Christmas

NBUS – Anything Goes (the TE images are new)

Retro Rubber – Anything Goes (the wreath is much older than a year)

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

Twofer Card Challenge #32 – Silhouettes

Hello … bonjour! It’s the 10th of the month … welcome to our new Twofer challenge for October, where we’re inviting you to play with …

My common images here are silhouette blooms from Catherine Pooler’s Wild Garden … how about a closer look at each design?

A one layer card with a background of texture-y looking squares in ombré autumn colours. The squares are from Clearly Besotted and were inked, spritzed and double stamped … first horizontally and then vertically … one overlapping another. I stamped the wild flowers over the them, added a sentiment from Simon and adhered a few gems to finish off.

My second card has a much more summery feel …

My design here is centred, with the wild flowers and leaves stamped and white heat embossed onto a crimped frame panel from The Greetery. I blended Distress Inks over the panel, using four blue hues in ombré order, added plenty of Shimmer Spray and did a little white splattering over the top. The sentiment is from Altenew, also white heat embossed. I dry embossed another (larger) crimped frame onto the card base and popped up the finished panel over it.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on silhouettes … we’d be delighted 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 … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Carol from Just Me: C and Shawna from The Grand Stampede … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Carol and Shawna … you’re sure to be inspired by their wonderful work … and you can always say while you’re there too!

My autumn silhouettes are heading to …

Bastel-traum – Fall

CAS on Friday – Autumn

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Sunday Stamps – Colour Palette (below)

… and my summery blue hues are joining in at …

Just Us Girls – Ombré

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Dry Embossing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

You might notice that the alignment on this post isn’t what it usually is … and links to the company products used aren’t there. That’s because wordpress has changed (as blogger has) and I’m learning how to use the new editor. It isn’t very user friendly (to put it mildly!) so it’ll take a while for me to become familiar with all it’s idiosycracies … I appreciate you bearing with me!

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

Twofer Card Challenge #27 – Flowers

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means we have a lovely new challenge for you at Twofer!  This month we’re inviting you to enjoy a little arranging with …

I chose a fresh, stylised bloom from Papertrey (Daydreamer) as my common image … it appears solo on the lower right side of my CAS birthday card … and on my just for you card, the garden includes the same flower, blossoming among plenty of others growing up across the whole card front.  Here’s a closer look at each one …

    

Here, the Uniko stripes were stamped off the edge of the card … and the simple sentiment (also from Uniko) was white heat embossed onto a black strip, which was popped up along the base of the stripes.  I stamped the flower head, stem and leaf clusters onto some pre-prepared die cuts (received from Barb G … thanks, my friend!) … and mounted them on foam dots against the stripes.

My garden of blooms is a little less CAS …

The grass, stems and leaves were stamped directly onto the card base … with the flower heads stamped onto more pre-prepared die cuts.  The flowers were adhered onto foam tape over the stems … and I added the Hero Arts sentiment to finish off.

There were a few more die cuts left over when my Twofers were finished … so I made a third card to share with you.  Some of the flowers are different and the colours are rather more bold … but the design is the same as the garden one above …

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on flowers … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of brilliant inspiration from the DT and from our Guest Designer, Cindy from Stamps, Paper and Ink.  If you don’t know Cindy’s work, do go over and enjoy a gentle meander through her blog … you’ll be so glad you did!  Even if you’ve already been introduced, why not pop along anyway and see her splendid Twofers … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My single bloom is heading to …

Addicted To CAS – Flower

CAS On Friday – Use Your Favourite Flower Stamp

NBUS – Anything Goes (as long as it’s NBUS) … those stripes, recently won

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no topping

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Dies and/or Punches

… and the garden is going to be growing in the galleries at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Dies and/or Punches

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes With A Feminine Twist

I hope and pray that you are continuing to stay safe and well out there … and that you’re finding wonderful, creative ways to occupy those hands, hearts and minds!  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 🙂

           

             

          

     

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 – #147 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour … long time no see!  This year has been a busy one outside of blogland and as a result I’ve not been here a great deal, though I have (mostly) stayed in touch with what you’ve all been creating while I haven’t been!  This last couple of weeks, however, have been especially full … and that’s meant there’s been almost no opportunity to visit everyone, outside of my DT commitments.  So, to those of you who haven’t seen or heard from me recently … thank you for your patience and understanding … normal service will be resumed shortly!

I’m here today because our new challenge at Time Out has just started … and this fortnight, we’re Inspired By Words … Dream Big, Be Grateful, Give Love, Laugh Lots.   Here’s where I went with those words …

On a white pierced, scalloped card panel cut with a Winnie & Walter die, I stamped these lovely words and delicate single floral stem from Uniko’s You Are, Yes You stamp set.  The stem was curved to create the sense of a smile … and the flower head balances the offset ‘loved’ in the sentiment.  I coloured the bloom with Zigs, covered it with lots of shimmer and added some sparkling gems to finish off.  The scalloped panel was added to a matching mat and then popped up onto the card base on craft foam.  You can see more of the shimmer here (even though it’s a little out of focus!) …

        

Where will our 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 time around by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) who are offering our winner, as voted for by the DT, an in-stock stamp set of their choice.  As usual, our winner will also be invited to be our Guest Designer for a future challenge.  The details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT, which I know you won’t want to miss!

My card will be going into the gallery at …

CAS on Friday – Big Sentiment or Word

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes Optional Botanical

The Flower Challenge – Clean and Simple

The Paper Players – Clean and Simple – Say It Loud

Thanks so much for coming by (especially when I haven’t been doing), your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

       

       

A New Challenge At Time Out – #133 – Embellishments (Two Or More)

Hello … bonjour!  We’ve just started our delicious new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight we have a theme for you … it’s Embellishments (Two Or More) … with the option of making a one layer card.  Here’s where I went with it …

As you can see, I decided not to go for the one layer option, but created lots of dimension in my smooshed and splattered leafy wreath, with three layers of the Memory Box Stitched Maple Circle Frame (thanks, Jeanne!), all intertwined and popped up on foam dots.  Even though these lovely leaves are maple, they put me in mind of the vines that surround us … hence my colour palette of spring-fresh greens and purples.  Yes, I know the pearly ‘grapes’ look almost black, but they really are purple (see just below, you can see the hint of colour!).  The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti, stamped and white heat embossed onto some coloured card stock, die cut with a Hero Arts Infinity circle die and adhered flat inside the wreath.  I used a miniscule gem to top the i in beautiful … my second embellishment.

       

How will you interpret our Embellishments (Two Or More) theme … and will you use our optional one layer twist?  There are so many different goodies you can use to dress up your card … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This fortnight, we’re sponsored by Birch Press Design who are offering a $20 GV to a randomly drawn player who uses the one layer option.  As usual, our overall winner will be chosen by the DT … and will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Details are over at the Time Out blog … along with loads of lovely inspiration from our brilliant DT … from the amazing Jeanne, who is on the Birch Press Design Team and blogs at A Kept Life … and from our talented and returning Guest Designer, Andrea at K and A Creative Moments.  Why not pop over for a visit with Jeanne and Andrea … you’ll love what you find … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My vine wreath is playing along at …

Addicted to Stamps and More – Anything Goes

CAS on Friday – Spring

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Pop It Up

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – No Designer Paper

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

       

               

A New Challenge At Time Out – #127 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  Our fabulous new challenge has just started at Time Out this morning … this time we’re Inspired By Words … you are only as strong as the tables you dance on, the drinks you mix and the friends you roll with.  Here’s where I went with it …         

My focus was on the friends you roll with part of our Inspired By Words phrase.  I stamped and heat embossed those delicate, dreamy flowers (now retired Truth Is from CAS-ual Fridays) in silver onto the card base, after masking off a small section of the stems to leave space for the sentiment.  The flowers were watercoloured with Zigs and I added tiny splatters in the same colours onto the background.  The main sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (Mon Ami) and the secondary one is from Simon Says Stamp (Tiny Words).  I created a frame for my blossoms by die cutting a rectangle (Hero Arts) into a card panel that matches the base … and popped the frame up on foam tape over my finished image.  The shine on the embossing is rather delicious  … this might give you a better idea of what it’s like in real life …

Where will our words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you joined us in the gallery.  We’re sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays (thanks, Michele!) .. our winner will win a $25GC … and as usual, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT, along with our talented Guest Designer, Claire from String Bows.  Do go and have a fun visit with Claire … you’ll find so much clean and simple loveliness to explore … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My blooms are going to be drifting off to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

Clean And Simple On Friday – Flowers

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – No Optional Texture

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Clean And Simple

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

          

                    

 

A New Challenge At Time Out – #125 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  Hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely … or are even complete … for those well organised souls among us!  Over at Time Out we’re starting a fresh new challenge today … this fortnight we’re Inspired By Words … Celebrate…Friends…Family…Life!   Here’s where I went with our words … celebrating the Greatest Gift of All …

         

A one layer card … with the bottom third masked off, I stamped the starry background in Delicata silver and gold, courtesy of two turns of the Concord & 9th Bitty Burst Turnabout.  The Holy Family in the stable and the sentiment come from Hero Arts … and were stamped using Tsukineko Brilliance Black … the stable into the space between the ‘stars’ … and the sentiment grounding the scene.  It’s deliciously shimmery IRL … though of course I couldn’t capture that with my photo!

Where will our words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love if it you joined us in the gallery.  We’re sponsored by STAMPlorations (thanks, Shery!) … our overall winner (as voted for by the DT) will win a $15GC … and there’ll be a random draw from all the entries for a goodie bag of stamps or dies.  As usual, our winner will also be invited to design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of scrumptious inspiration from our wonderful DT … and from our uber talented Guest Designer, my lovely friend, Michele from I Card Everyone.  Pretty sure you’ll know Michele and her always amazing cards … if not, you need to!  Either way, do pop over for a visit … enjoy a gentle wander through all the gorgeousness on offer … and say hello while you’re there … you’ll love it!

My Christmas card is joining in at …

A Blog Named Hero – Winter … Christmas is a winter celebration … at least in France!

Clean And Simple On Friday – Make A Christmas Card #2

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes (No Optional Snow Twist)

Simon Says Stamp – Christmas Card Day

Uniko – Celebrate (With Optional Gold Twist)

Finally, I’d like to wish you and all those you love … a truly Blessed and Happy Christmas, filled with peace, hope and joy … and comfort for those of you who are missing someone dear at this special time of year.  Thanks so much for coming by … your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂