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 #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 🙂

          

          

         

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 🙂

         

         

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 #24 – Fruit

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

I chose to get all zesty and zingy with citrus fruits … using a stamp from Ellen Hutson‘s Rustic Botanicals (now retired) as my common image … one conventional, one unconventional.  Here’s a closer look at each card …

A lower third design on a scalloped panel, with stamped and die cut slices of lemon, lime and orange … together with a few stamped mint leaves (Papertrey) … all ready for dressing some long cool drinks.  I stamped the sentiment from Ellen Hutson (kind of mouthwatering!) … and finished off with a few gems on the fruit.

I made my unconventional design a one layer card … with central images and a border along the top  …

… and turned the citrus slices into retro Christmas baubles, hanging from some Stampendous pine branches, all silver heat embossed.  The baubles were watercoloured in pastel shades and were dressed with glittery Nuvo drops … and they’re attached to the branches with hand drawn silver cords.  The sentiment in pink is from Waltzingmouse Stamps (NLIB).

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on fruit … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of brilliant ideas from the DT to inspire you.  Our talented Guest Designer this month is Sonja from Old Punca … do go over and enjoy a wander through her blog … you’ll have a wonderful time exploring … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My juicy fruits are joining in at …

AAA Cards – Up To One Third … no hearts option

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Positive … a day bursting with joy is!

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

… and those Christmas baubles will be hanging out at

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes … no Christmas wings option

Uniko – Anything Goes … with the cool winter colour option

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

             

            

A New Challenge At Time Out – #150 – We Challenge You To Be … Merry And Cheerful!

Hello … bonjour!  Our festive new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight We Challenge You To Be … Merry And Cheerful!  Here’s my CAS take on it …

This graphic, shimmery tree is courtesty of Uniko (Rustic Christmas).  I stamped it directly onto the card base, heat embossed it ombré style using three blue hued embossing powders, then added a layer of holographic EP for sparkle.  The frame was cut with a die from Simply Graphic, heat embossed in the same blues as the tree and adhered to the base.  I finished off with a star atop the tree and a simple sentiment, also from Uniko (Background Builders:  Christmas).  How about a glance at all that shimmer … 

        

How will you interpret ‘merry and bright’?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  This time round, we’re sponsored by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive an in stock stamp set of their choice … and will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Details are over at Time Out … where you’ll find heaps of inspiring ideas from our fabulous DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Angie from Cimbacreativefun.  Why not pop over for a visit with Angie … you’ll find a wealth of wonderful inspiration … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My shimmery, CAS Christmas tree is heading to …

Fusion – Christmas (below) … inspired by the trees (though I’d happily have that Citroen 2CV!)

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Let’s Sparkle

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Traditional Christmas (Christmas trees are traditional!)

Uniko – Christmas … with the tree option

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

                 

        

Twofer Card Challenge #21 – Sweets

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

… I chose a pie from Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer in business) as my common sweets image.  On my CAS one layer autumn greetings card, it’s a pumpkin pie, set on a gingham table cloth, all ready to slice and share.  For my birthday card, I went unconventional this time around … and turned the pie into autumn blooming flowers.  Here’s a closer look at each card …  Here, my simple design puts the pumpkin pie centre stage.  Although it’s one single stamp, I used three different ink colours for it (bit tricky!) … one for the base, another for the crust and the third for the creamy filling (which was covered in Wink of Stella to mimic powdered sugar!).  The pie was masked, I stamped the table cloth (from Clearly Besotted) over it … and added the Pretty Pink Posh sentiment to finish it off.

My unconventional card was a little more involved …

… with the image taking up the lower left corner of my design.  The blooms are made up of Papertrey stems, with the pie flower heads ombré stamped in four colours.  I added the happy birthday sentiment (also Papertrey) and cut the panel with a Winnie & Walter scalloped, pierced die.  The base card was blended around the edges with Distress Ink and the panel was adhered over the top.  I added gems to the flower centres and finished off with a scattering of shimmery sequins topped with bronze Nuvo drops.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on sweets … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of brilliant ideas from the DT to inspire you.  We have two Guest Designers this month, both talented winners of our August challenge …. a warm welcome to Lisa from My Paper Tales and Marianne from Marianne’s Card ‘n Stuff.  If you haven’t met Lisa and Marianne yet, do go over and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll have a splendid time!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My pie is going to be shared at …

AAA Cards – One Layer Card (Optional Autumn Twist)

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Fall/Autumn

Uniko – Anything Goes (Optional Autumn Twist)

… and my flowers will be blooming with …

AAA Birthday – Colour Palette

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything goes

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

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

                   

        

A New Challenge At Time Out – #146 – We Challenge You To Be … Encouraging!

Hello … bonjour!  Our thoughtful new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight We Challenge You To Be … Encouraging!  Here’s my CAS take on it …

This dainty, floral wreath and that sweet sentiment are from Newton’s Nook (Happy Little Thoughts).  They were stamped on a Concord & 9th stitched die cut circle, the wreath was coloured with Distress Inks in soft autumn colours … and a few of those tiny blossoms were shimmered with Wink of Stella and topped with Glossy Accents.  The circle was mounted onto a die cut black circle (Hero Arts) and was popped up on craft foam onto a base card that I scored Laurie Willison style.  How about a look at those little details …

          

How will you interpret ‘encouraging’?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  This time round, we’re sponsored by Newton’s Nook (thanks, Jen and Jeff!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive a $25 GC … and will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Details are over at Time Out … where you’ll find heaps of inspiring ideas from our  fabulous DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Shawna from The Grand Stampede.  Why not pop over for a visit with Shawna … you’ll find tons of fantastic inspiration … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My autumn coloured wreath is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Make Your Mark

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes, Optional Botanical

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Fall/Autumn

The Flower Challenge – CAS

Uniko – Anything Goes, Option Autumn

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

       

                 

A New Challenge At Time Out – #145 – Breast Cancer Awareness

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight we have a special theme for you to play with.  It’s Breast Cancer Awareness … with the option of making a one layer card using pink.  Here’s where I went with it …

… a one layer card, with ombré shades of pink blended over a CAS-ual Fridays stencil (Tin Roof).  The centres of the flowers are dotted with ombré Nuvo drops (they get darker as they go down the card) … and the sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (Truth Is … now sadly retired).  Voila … quick and clean and simple (QACAS in Darnell-ese).  Like a closer look at the ombré?

        

How will you interpret our special theme … and will you use our optional one layer twist using pink?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time around, we’re sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays (thanks, Michele) … who are offering a US$25 GC to a randomly drawn player who uses the optional twist.  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 fabulous inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Sidan.  Why not pop over for a visit with Sidan … you’ll so enjoy wandering through her fabulous creations!

I’m playing along at …

Papercraft Challenges – No Design Paper

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Anything Goes … No Autumn Option

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

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 🙂