Twofer Card Challenge #39 – Sunshine

Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our fun new challenge at Twofer, where we’re inviting you to brighten your already bright day with our prompt for June …

I chose to make both my cards conventional this month … one for a birthday, the other to give someone a smile (encouragement/friendship). My common image is a fun sun from Simon Says Stamp’s Happy & Smile stamp set. Here’s a closer look at each one …

This used to be one of my favourite designs … a strip of colour along the lower third line of my card, with an image and sentiment over it … though it’s been a while since I used it. The fresh stripes of sponged blue put me in mind of a summer sky or ocean … and with the sun (in his cool, shiny shades) taking the place of the ‘a’ in the stacked, die cut ‘hooray’ (from Neat and Tangled), I’m thinking beach party! That’s a birthday beach party by the way … thanks to the white heat embossed secondary sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. Want to see how shiny those cool shades really are …

My second card has me smiling every time I look at it …

The window design lent itself to an unconventionally sized slimline card … it’s 21 x 7.5 cm (roughly 8 x 3 inches) … half an A4 sheet folded across the long edge. I cut the windows individually using a die from Concord & 9th, marked the card base where the openings were and stamped the happy sun gradually rising through the morning. Each sun was masked so that the sky behind them could be sponged with distress inks … and when that was done, I added a good dose of sparkle to them (see below for a little more detail). The Avery Elle sentiment was stamped onto the window panel before I popped it up on craft foam onto the card base.

How about lighting up our gallery with some sunshine of your own … we’d love to see you and your two distinctly different designs there! Details of how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with loads of delicious inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have two wonderful Guest Designers joining us this month … Veana and Daphne … welcome ladies!  Do go and enjoy a visit with these talented artists … and let yourself be inspired. You can always say hello while you’re there too!

My birthday card is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Less is More – Favourite Technique … I love to use stacked die cuts

NBUS – Anything Goes … first trip out for that fabulous scripty hooray

… and those sun filled windows are joining in at …

Papercraft Challenges – Anything Goes

Retro Rubber – Summer Breeze … the sun image is at least four years old

Uniko – Anything Goes … with the die cuts option

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

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 #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 #36 – Your Choice

Hello … bonjour … I’m delighted to see you! As it’s the tenth of the month, our fun new challenge has just started at Twofer … and it’s just a little different than usual. This time around, instead of giving you a prompt, we’re inviting you to choose one of your own …

I went with one of my favourite themes … ‘Blossoms’ …

… and created a bold, vibrant friendship card … and a soft, subtle hugs card, using Altenew’s Rosie Posy stamp as my common image. Here’s a closer look at each one.

The striped background is from Uniko … it was stamped over a circular mask to leave space for the central cluster of Rennie Mackintosh style blossoms. The blooms were watercoloured with Zigs and a waterbrush … and I added some detailing with a white gel pen. The Mama Elephant sentiment was stamped onto a die cut banner, which was popped up on foam dots under the focal image. Eyecatching in a CAS way!

In contrast, my second card has a dreamy, spring-like feel to it …

It’s still clean … it’s one layer … and unusually for me, it features a light grey card base. That lovely Rosie Posy blossom cluster was stamped and white heat embossed multiple times in a diagonal swoosh across the card. I sponged white pigment ink over the flowers (allowing it to go over the edges to create a halo effect) … and once it was dry, added a couple of different yellows in the centres. The sentiment was also white heat embossed … it’s from Papertrey. Soft Pantone colours anyone?

How about choosing your own prompt … to make two distinctly different designs … for two different occasions … using the same stamps, dies and/or stencils? 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 (who have each chosen a different prompt).  We’re delighted to have two fabulous Guest Designers joining us … Nancy from Scandinancy Creates … and Klara from My Favourite Day … welcome ladies!  If you haven’t met these talented artists yet, do go and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll be so inspired!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My bold blossom is heading to …

Altenew – Emily’s Inspiration (see badge for those delicious colours below)

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Use Something Green (the leaves)

… and my soft spring swoosh is joining in at …

CAS on Sunday – Spring

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

NBUS – Anything Goes (first appearance of Rosie Posy here)

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 🙂

Twofer Card Challenge #28 Reminder – Circles/Bubbles

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 …       

Here, I made use of Papertrey‘s Dot Spot stamp set (one of my first card making acquisitions … and still a favourite) … and chose the largest circle as my common image.  On the hello card, it became a warm, golden sun, set into a central circle frame, with the sentiment flowing along the bottom edge.  On the happy birthday card, it was joined by the other circles in the set in a geometric pattern cascading from top left to bottom right, with the sentiment set into the delicious white space that was left.  Here’s a closer look at each one …   I used three CP inks to create the ombré sun on the base card … and added a little sparkle with a coordinating gem in the middle.  The frame was cut with Hero Arts Infinity Dies (rectangle and circle) … and the sentiment (PTI … a gift from the lovely Bev … thanks my friend!) was stamped across both the frame and the base card to emphasise the scripty flow of the font.  I popped the frame up on craft foam over the sunny stamping … et voilà … done!

There’s a slightly crisper, cooler feel to my second card …

… though the colour palette is still a soft, feminine one.  I tested the inks and the pattern out on typing paper before stamping directly onto this one layer card.  The top right space was the perfect spot for a high impact, large sentiment (Simon Says Stamp) … which was overlapped slightly onto the circle stamping.  I added shimmer to the centre of each circle … and topped it with Glossy Accents … to create a lovely subtle sparkle (that you can just about see if you enlarge the photo).

I wondered if this design could also be made rather masculine … so did a little experimenting and came up with this …

A couple of colour changes … and some metallic silver Nuvo Drops … looks more rugged to me … what d’you think?

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 Circles/Bubbles.  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, Jenny from My Paper Epiphany and Linda from Lin’s Craft Corner.  Hope to see you in our gallery!

My sunshine-y hello is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Yellow Paint Photo (below)

Just Us Girls – Frame It

NBUS – Anything Goes … the hello sentiment is new to me

Uniko – Anything Goes … with the Bright and Happy option

… the birthday greetings are going to …

Day of the Month Card Club – Repeat Day

Papercraft Challenges – Geometric

… and the thinking of you card is joining in at …

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Something Metallic

My twofer is also playing with …

Vesela Hiška (Happy House) – Dvojni Izziv (A Double Challenge) … where the Design Team is running a Twofer style challenge this month … ‘two different designs, two different occasions, using the same stamp, die or stencil’.  Do feel free to link up your twofer there too!

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

          

          

         

Twofer Challenge #28 – Circles/Bubbles

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means it’s time for a brand new challenge at Twofer … this time around, we’re inviting you to play with …

My common images here are a couple of circle stamps from Simon Says Stamp‘s Lots of Dots set.  On my hello card, they were joined by a whole load of other sized circles from the same set … stamped randomly to create a lower third border that’s kind of bubbly.  The second card (heureux anniversaire … happy birthday in French) features the circles stamped in a geometric pattern on a central panel.  How about a closer look at each one …

I drew faint pencil lines to act as a general guide for my individually stamped overlapping line art circles … and erased them once the stamping was done.  The secondary sentiment (WPlus9) was white heat embossed onto a slender strip of black card that was adhered flat over the bubbly background.  I cut the hello (SSS) from a left over piece of watercolour paper that had been rainbow coloured for a different project, stacked it up on another four die cuts and adhered it over the black strip.  Crisp and CAS with a pop of colour!

My second card features just two of the circles …

… stamped one inside the other to create a cool pattern.  They were watercoloured with CP inks using a subtle, masculine colour palette.  I added a couple of twine tied Simply Graphic leafy sprigs (adhered just where they intersected to allow them to drift free), stamped the sentiment which translates as Happy Birthday (also Simply Graphic) and popped the panel up onto an Oyster Grey card base.

How about joining us with your two distinctly different takes on circles/bubbles … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  Details of how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with plenty of delicious inspiration from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Jenny from My Paper Epiphany and Linda from Lin’s Craft Corner.  Do go and check out Jenny’s and Linda’s twofers … they’re brilliant!   You can enjoy a wander around their blogs while you’re there … and maybe say hello too … they’ll be delighted to hear from you!

My first card is saying hello at …

Day Of The Month Club – Repeat Day

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

… the second is heading to …

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes (no Summer topping)

Simon Says Stamp Monday – It’s A Man Thing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Masculine

… and my twofer is also joining in at …

Vesela Hiška (Happy House) – Dvojni Izziv (A Double Challenge) … a fun idea adopting the same principles as Twofer (two different designs, two different occasions, using the same stamp, die or stencil) … thank you ladies!

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 🙂

           

           

     

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 🙂