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 🙂

Turnabouts Times Two

Hello … bonjour!  Calling in today with a couple of cards made with different Concord & 9th Turnabouts … they’re going to be joining in at some of the fun challenges going on across blogland at the moment.   One’s masculine, one’s feminine … and then there are two extra ones at the end.  Here’s the first …

A one layer graphic card … simply stamped with Concord & 9th‘s Semicircle Turnabout … with a platinum heat embossed sentiment from Winnie & Walter (sadly NLIB).  One semicircle on each line had Glossy Accents layered over the top to add shine and dimension … tricky to photograph though you can probably make out those on the first two rows.  Cool and masculine I think!

This is heading to …

MFT Birthday Project – Circles

MFT Color – White, Sno Cone, Blue Raspberry, Orange Zest (my closest colours)

NBUS – Anything Goes (as long as it’s NBUS) … Missed Darnell‘s return last month so am happy to join in now with this Semicircle Turnabout (first use, though it’s been living here for a while!).

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

The Male Room – Sentiment in Focus

 

         

The next card is softer and feminine … maybe it’s the colours …

Here I used Concord & 9th‘s Bitty Burst … and added a stacked, shimmered, Glossy Accented, die cut sentiment from Simon … with a white heat embossed supplementary label popped up underneath the ‘smile’.  The panel was trimmed and adhered to a 10.5cm (roughly 4.25 inches) square card … which, most unusually for me isn’t white … I’m expanding my horizons!!

This little pretty is playing along at …

Krafty Chicks – Anything Goes

MFT Birthday Project – Circles

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

The Paper Players – Make You Smile

     

    

The change in colour palette and sentiment style gives this Bitty Burst Turnabout a different look.  Here are those extra cards I mentioned earlier … a variation on a theme, though just as much fun with that all that scattered confetti … and deliciously easy to make for quick hello’s.

    

I hope and pray that you are continuing to stay safe and well out there … and that you’re finding fun, happy, joyful things to do to occupy those hands, hearts and minds.  Keep smiling!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

Some Summer Flowers!

Hello … bonjour … and bon dimanche!  It’s not often that I get to be here with something other than DT cards … but as today happens to be one of those days, I’m sharing a duo of summery, floral cards .  Here’s the first …

An almost one layer card … this bouquet of stylised blooms was made using separate stem and flower centre images from Concord & 9th‘s Wildflower set.  The main sentiment is also from C9 (Sophisticated Script) … and the secondary one is from Simon.  I edged the top and bottom of the card with some striped washi … and added a black dot to each of the flower heads.  I was going for a mimosa kind of look (in an abstract sort of a way) … how did I do?

My second card is a bright and sunny one … you may need sunglasses …

This is an image I stamped at the Lake House … think it’s Bev‘s and it might be Studio Calico (though I’m not certain) … isn’t it just charming?  It’s stamped onto an MFT wonky stitched panel, was coloured with alcohol markers, had black pearls added to the flower centres … and was joined by a WPlus9 sentiment surrounded by a few miniscule black pearls.  The finished panel was mounted flat onto a card base that had been edged with Distress Ink.

** My ‘mimosa’ are going to be blooming at …

MFT Birthday Project – Birthday Bouquet

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Bright And Cheerful

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Flowers … without the die cut option

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes

** … and my bright, sunny flowers are headed to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Make Your Mark

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Bright And Cheerful

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Flowers … without the die cut option

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes

**  All the badges are below **

Do hope your weekend is going along wonderfully!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

       

             

Twofer Card Challenge #15 – Zoo Animals

Hello … bonjour!  Our fun April challenge has just launched at Twofer … this month we’re inviting Zoo Animals to play with us …

… and I thought bears would be a good choice (nothing to do with what is … or isn’t … living in my stash!) …

A cosy warm birthday card … and a couple of chums saying hello … with that big waving bear from MFT as my common image (stamped and sent for me to play with a while ago by the lovely Cat … thanks my friend!).  Here’s a closer look at each one …

Here, I did a little doodling on Monsieur Bear and turned his scarf into a roll neck sweater … then coloured him with alcohol markers and trimmed him out, cutting off the scarf tails at the same time.  He chose the rainbow cuffs, collar and welt himself … without any cable knit, he felt the creamy Aran colour needed a little extra pizazz … very stylish!  I softly sponged the centre of an MFT wonky stitched panel (Lake House stash) with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink … cut a white embossed MFT sentiment (also from Cat) into a banner … and adhered the banner to the panel with foam tape.  Monsieur Bear was also popped up … his left arm has a double layer of tape under it to add some waving action dimension!  I attached the finished panel to a base card that had been sponged round the edges with Distress Ink.

My twofer is another conventional presentation …

Here, bear appears in his original polar, scarfed guise, accompanied by a little friend … both watercoloured with Zigs and trimmed out.  Their snowy background is a piece of patterned paper from my stash (yep, really, I used PP!), the stacked up die cut is from Winnie & Walter and the supplementary sentiments are from MFT (via Cat).  Little bear is popped up on some very slender foam dots while big bear is on chunkier ones to emphasise the sense of depth and distance between them.

How would you like to join us in the gallery at Twofer this month … we’d love to see which zoo animal(s) you choose as your common image.  You can find out everything you need to know in the rules and FAQs over at the Twofer blog.  It’s worth the trip … there are plenty of wonderfully inspiring ideas from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Susan from Card Maker’s Garret.  Do go and have a visit with Susan … you’ll find so much deliciousness to enjoy!

My birthday bear is wandering over to …

Inkspirational – Pop It Up

MFT The Birthday Project – ROYBGIV

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Animal Antics

… and my polar bears are waving over at …

Inkspirational – Pop It Up

MFT Colour Challenge – Razzle Berry, Cotton Candy, Lemon Chiffon, Limelight (my closest)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Animal Antics

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

               

A New Challenge At Time Out – #118 – Home Sweet Home

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge at Time Out has just gone live … we have a Home Sweet Home picture to spark your imagination … and it’s rich and gorgeous (a little further down).  Here’s my take on it …

… and here’s our wonderful, floral inspiration …

My attention was taken by those fabulous flowers in their warm oranges and peaches with a touch of golden yellow … and I used those colours for my background.  I die cut the Poppy Stamps Hampstead Bloom (sadly discontinued) and adhered it onto a card stock mounted panel of watercoloured, scrunched and gold heat embossed tissue paper.  The panel was trimmed with gold foil and I popped it up on craft foam onto a white linen card base.  The sentiment (Uniko) was gold heat embossed (to match the veins in the tissue paper) and I finished off with some tiny gold pearls in the centres of the flower heads.

What is it that gets your imagination going in our Home Sweet Home photo … the rich colours, those fun pumpkin vases, the delicate glassware … or something else completely?  Whichever way you’re inspired, we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  Our winner, as chosen by the DT, will receive a $20 gc from our terrific sponsor, Poppy Stamps and will have the chance to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog … along with a heap of gorgeous cards from our fabulous DT and from our talented Guest Designer, Angie from Cimbacreativefun.  Do pop over for a visit with Angie … you’ll have a fabulous time meandering through all the delicious cards on display!  In addition, we’re delighted to be joined by the Design Team from Poppy Stamps … do go along and check out all the inspiration over at their blog … you’ll come away itching to create!

I’m playing along with …

Clean And Simple On Friday – Flowers

Poppy Stamps – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Pop It Up

The Birthday Project – Clean And Simple

The Flower Challenge – Anything Goes

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

                   

         

 

Twofer Card Challenge #9 – Leaves

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to another Twofer Card Challenge … this month, we have a prompt that’s perfectly appropriate for this time of year, whether you’re looking forward to the richness of autumn or the freshness of spring where you are in the world.  It’s …

Here’s how mine tumbled …

My common stamp here is a small leafy sprig from Concord & 9th‘s Wildflower stamp set … here’s a closer look at each card …

Some judicious masking and lots of different colours of greens, rusts, yellows and browns stamped into a leafy autumn wreath … the small sprig was joined by a bigger leaf image from the same Concord & 9th set.  I gold heat embossed the Avery Elle sentiment, trimmed it out, edged it with more gold heat embossing … and popped the panel up on foam tape across the outline stamping.  There’s no added bling as this is for a man’s birthday … though it could easily be dressed up with some shimmer and shine for a girl!

My Twofer …

Here the leafy sprig was turned into mistletoe for a Christmas card.   I die cut the peek a boo window (MFT) first, then did some selective stamping of the image to create a nice full bunch of mistletoe.  The leaves were coloured with Zigs, I made berries with dots of black fine liner and some Nuvo Jewel Drops … and added a shadow with a light grey-green alcohol marker.  The Uniko sentiment was stamped in Delicata Gold and I added a tiny gold thread bow to finish off.  How about a closer look at those berries …

In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that this is the third version of this design.  The first had red berries … hmmm … it was jolly enough but didn’t look right.  I could have claimed artistic licence and left it like that, but has anyone ever seen mistletoe with red berries??  So, the second version got white berries … Nuvo drops first, black fine liner dots second.  Did you know (I didn’t) that black liner on a slick surface can smudge horribly, even days later?  I know now … and nasty smudges aren’t a Good Thing when the photographs have yet to be taken!  Onto attempt three … black pen dots first, Nuvo drops over the top.  The drops magnified the tiny dots rather a lot and to my eyes the berries now look a little frogs’ spawn-y.  However, my creative energy was all but gone by this time, so you’re seeing the best version I could muster!

Where will our ‘Leaves’ prompt take you this month?  We’d love to see what you make in our gallery!  All the details are over at the Twofer blog … along with lots of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT … it’s just a click away!  We’re delighted to have two Guest Designers with us this time round, winners of our July challenge … Linda fromScrappin’ Stampin’ and Singin’ and Susan from Cat’s Ink.Corporated.  Do go and have a visit with Linda and Susan … apart from their delicious Twofer cards, you’ll find a whole heap of wonderful projects to meander through and enjoy!

My autumn birthday wreath is joining in the fun at …

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Stamp It On

Simon Says Stamp Stamptember – Concord & 9th

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stamp On It

The Birthday Project – Clean and Simple

The Cat’s Pyjamas – Fall

… and my Christmas card will be celebrating at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Holiday

MFT Sketch – See Below

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Stamp It On

Simon Says Stamp Stamptember – Concord & 9th

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stamp On It

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

                    

         

       

Twofer Card Challenge #4 – Pets

Hello … bonjour … and welcome to our wonderful April Twofer Card Challenge!  We have a fun theme for you this month … and I’m guessing you’ll have a few stamps and/or dies in your stash that you can choose from to make your cards … it’s …

Here’s how I was inspired …

For those of you who might be wondering … no, we do not have a pig as a pet … though we do know someone in the next village who has two!  Hence my choice of these fun Simon Says Stamp party pigs, the common image on my Twofer.  How about a closer look at each one …    In his original form, this little guy is holding a big balloon and sporting a party hat … though I wanted to focus on his wide outstretched hands … paws … trotters, so I trimmed him out.  He was coloured with alcohol markers, coated with a thick layer of Glossy Accents and had some googly eyes added.  He wanted to wear a T shirt with ‘pig’ on it … though as he couldn’t find one that suited his rather demanding tastes, he decided to simply wear the word … he’s a bit of a rebel … and loves a fun sentiment!  The base card was embossed several times with a Lawn Fawn stitched border … I die cut the Winnie & Walter hugs (to go with those welcoming trotters) in silver striped PP and black craft foam and adhered them over the stitching … and Monsieur Cochon just hopped on next to the sentiment, popped up on foam dots (with a double layer of foam under his trotters).  I know he’d love you to see a close up of his big friendly smile …

My Twofer …

Here, Monsieur Cochon is appearing with a few friends … leaping out from behind a wall for a surprise birthday party.  They’ve kept their fun hats on this time, though got a little over excited and managed to burst all their balloons … so I masked them off (flat balloons just don’t have the same festive feel as full round ones!).  The wall is a black edged, MFT stamped, popped up sentiment panel … and the pigs’ party outfits are courtesy of some coloured pencils, a white gel pen, Spectrum Noir shimmer and a touch of Stickles.  You can see the excitement in their Enamel Accent-ed eyes here …

Voilà … my two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamp!  I went conventional with the use of my stamp this time around (my pig stayed a pig on each card) … and you can too, if that’s what you’d like to do.  You can also stretch your stamp or die in an unexpected way (as I hope you’ve seen in previous Twofer posts), although that’s not a requirement to play along.  If you haven’t already seen the last winners post (here), the lovely Darnell has decided to have two winner’s spots … one for conventional and one for  unconventional use of your stamp or die … how perfect is that … this is Twofer after all!

So … do you have a pet you’d like to depict on your cards this month … or will you need to put your thinking cap on and ‘borrow’ one as I did?  We’d love to see your two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamps or dies … in our gallery!  All the information you need, including timescales, guidelines, rules and FAQs, as well as a whole heap of fantastic inspiration from the brilliant DT … is over at the Twofer blog … it’s just a click away!   We’re delighted to have a talented Guest Designer with us this time around … welcome to Pia from Pia’s Papir Og Perler … our winner from challenge 2.  Do pop over for a visit with Pia, you’ll find so much fun and fabulous inspiration over at her blog … and you can leave some love for her while you’re there!

My Pig Hugs are heading over to …

AAA Cards – A Favourite Technique … mine is die cutting

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Mod Squad – Simply Clean

… and my Sweet Birthday Pigs will be celebrating at …

MFT Color – Cement Grey, Peach Bellini, Coral Crush, Blue Breeze … below (my closest colours)

SSS Wednesday – Happy Birthday … congratulations to the SSSW DTs past and present … eight splendid years packed with fun challenges … thank you … and here’s to many more!

SSS Monday – Mythology/Inspired By A Story … my story is The Three Little Pigs!

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

                   

         

Some Flowers, A Rose And Two Love Birds!

Hello … bonjour!  The weekend here seems to have fairly rattled along … guess it’s the same for you too … suddenly Sunday evening has arrived!   I have a trio of cards to share … first up, some delicate blooms …

     

A gold and pink smooshed and splattered panel, a couple of blooms and a leafy sprig set into a gold frame (Simply Graphic … courtesy of the lovely Maria), and a sentiment (stamp and die cut) from SSS.  The finished panel was popped up on the base … and this was mailed to a sweet and wonderful friend to celebrate a special birthday.

This is heading to …

Addicted to CAS – Florals

Auberge des Loisirs – Inspiration/Mood Board (en dessous/below)

Carte Maniak – Tâches/Splatters

SSS Monday – Shimmer and Shine

The Flower Challenge – Tic Tac Toe (Distress Ink, Watercolour, Die Cuts)

                   

      

Next, an equally delicate rose …

 

A white card panel cut with an NBUS MFT Peek a Boo die, with acetate added to the back of the space and the Roses in Bloom die (also MFT, also NBUS) adhered to the acetate.  Distress Inks sponged onto the base card, the panel popped up on craft foam over the top and a banner with the stamped sentiment (SSS) adhered with foam tape over the window.  If you look carefully, you can see the shadow of the rose on the DI background … looks quite cool IRL!

I’m playing along at …

Addicted to CAS – Florals

CAS on Friday – Dies

Darnell’s NBUS – Anything Goes (NBUS: MFT Peek a Boo Window and Roses In Bloom Dies)

Happy Litle Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

SSS Wednesday – Pop It Up

                   

         

Lastly, a couple of tropical love birds  (the picture has lost it’s crispness … don’t know why … did what I could to freshen it up!) …

A white card panel, masked with a swoosh shaped mask and delicately sponged with Distress Ink, and stamped with some tropical flower/leaf clusters between two popped up, sparkly, shimmery tropical birds (all MFT).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts and some enamel accents in the flower centres and on the birds’ eyes finished it off.    How about a close up of the shimmer and shine …

These two are flying off to …

MFT Wednesday Sketch – see below

MFT Colour Challenge – Stone Grey, Blueberry, Berrylicious, Bubblegum (my closest colours)

SSS Monday – Shimmer & Shine

SSS Wednesday – Pop It Up

      

         

That’s it from me for now … hope you’ve had chance to relax with some card making this weekend … see you Thursday for a new challenge at Time Out.  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

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An Autumn Bouquet

Hello … bonjour … hope your week is going along wonderfully!  I had plans to play in all the categories of the MFT Card Design Superstar Contest, though as the Time Eating Monster has been making his presence felt around here recently, I’ve not got there with the three of them.  Here though, is my Clean and Simple entry …

A white card panel, masked and sponged/faded out with Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold Distress Inks.  All the blossoms and foliage are from MFT (Beautiful Blooms) … the leafy sprigs were stamped onto the card panel, and the blooms were stamped, die cut and mounted on different levels of foam tape.  I finished off with an MFT sentiment, some enamel accents for the flower centres and a little doodling with a white gel pen, before adhering the panel onto craft foam on the card base.

I’m joining in at …

MFT Card Design Superstar 2017 – Clean & Simple Genius

Addicted to CAS – Florals

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

SSS Wednesday – Pop It Up

Short and sweet today … thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                   

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A Flower Filled Vase … and a Birthday Package

Hello … bonjour!  I had some crafty time yesterday afternoon … and have a couple of cards to share as a result.  Can’t say the stamps I used to make them are NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff in Darnellese) … though they hadn’t been played with a great deal and were in need of some TLC, so p’raps they could be called BUGs … Barely Used Goodies!   Here’s the first …

A white panel, masked off along the side and lightly sponged/faded out with Distress Ink.  A vase mask acted a guide as to where to stamp (and secondary stamp) the floral arrangement, I die cut a new white vase and adhered it flat when the stamping was done, and then added the sentiment.  All the goodies are from MFT‘s Beautiful Blooms.  The panel was popped up on craft foam onto the card base and I added a scattering of Lucy’s Rainbow Jewels to finish off.

This is heading to (badges at the bottom) …

AAA Cards – Masking

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

MFT Color – Coral Crush, Spearmint, Green Eyed Monster, Blueberry (my closest colours)

MFT Wednesday Sketch – See Below

SSS Wednesday – Add a Sentiment

My second card is a very CAS twist on brown paper packages tied up with string (did that have you breaking into song?) …

Another white panel, this time stamped and clear heat embossed with Papertrey‘s No Strings Attached … and then run through my Cuttlebug with a polka dot embossing folder.  The tag was done separately.  I heat embossed the sentiment (also Papertrey) so the colour would resist the yellow, stamped the tag over it and trimmed it out, and thanks to the magic of MISTI, was able to add the right bit of the bow to the top.  The finished tag was adhered onto the polka dots, so it has a little dimension.

My gift is going to be opened over at (badges at the bottom) …

CAS(E) This Sketch – See below for Chrissie’s sketch … mine’s a minimalist interpretation!

Color Throwdown – Hot Pink, Lime Green, Yellow

Create Along With Us – Release Week Challenge … Inspired by Keeway’s cool, crisp, graphic inspiration using the new Hey Stacks stamps, on Day 5 of the August Release (it’s below).

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes

SSS Wednesday – Add a Sentiment

That’s it from me for now … wishing you a wonderful week ahead!  I have a little (well more than a little really) catching up to do … so will see you over the next couple of days!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                

         

         

         

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