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 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 🙂

     

    

          

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

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

     

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

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

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

     

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

My first card will be joining in the fun at …

Inkspirational – Spring

Papercraft Challenges – Pastel Colours

Perfectly CAS – Die Cuts

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

The Flower Challenge – Spring/Autumn

… and Monsieur Escargot will be shining at …

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

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

Addicted to Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

CAS on Friday – Black, White And One Colour

The Male Room – Make Me Laugh

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

           

             

          

     

A 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 #22 – Holiday Foliage – With A Twist

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

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

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

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

        

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

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

My second design has a more simple look to it …

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

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

My foliage display is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Thinking of You

Watercooler Wednesday – Tristan’s Feminine Anything Goes

… and my mistletoe bundle in joining in at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Tis The Season

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

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

The Cat’s Pajama’s – Holiday

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

        

                

        

A New Challenge At Time Out – #144 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a cool, contemporary, almost monochrome Home Sweet Home image to inspire you (a little further down).  Here’s my take on it …  … and here’s the stylish inspiration picture …

Bet you can see what my attention was drawn to!  Yep, the striped rug, the white table and that verdant green leafy plant!  The stripes were cut with Essentials By Ellen Skinny Stripes die and backed with black, the ‘planted’ and layered leaves are from Poppy Stamps (Lorelei Leaf – now retired I think, though there are other similar ones) and are cut from a Lindy’s Magicals panel made (I believe) at the Lake House … and the sentiment is from Simply Graphic.  I finished it off with a scattering of iridescent sequins.  You can see some of the leafy shimmer here …

       

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … the graphic patterns, something on the picture shelf, that stylised white animal, the pops of colour … or something else?  Wherever your creative imagination takes you, we’d love to see your card in our gallery!  This fortnight, we’re sponsored by Poppy Stamps … our winner, as chosen by the Design Team, will receive a $20 GC to the store, as well as being invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog, along with plenty of ideas from the DT to inspire you.  We’re also delighted to welcome our uber talented Guest Designer, Hannelie from Desert Diva.  I’m pretty sure you’ll know Hannelie’s amazing work … though do go over and say hello, you’ll be so pleased you did … and so will she!

I’m playing along at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Crop … don’t those luscious leafs make a wonderful crop!

Poppy Stamps – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Stamp It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Bling It On

The Cat’s Pajamas – Layer Up … all those layered leaves

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

                  

               

A New Challenge At Time Out – #140 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a delicious, beach house style image to inspire you (a little further down).  Here’s my take on it …

… and here’s the cool inspiration picture …

My focus was on the neutral colours, the framed photograph and flowers on the console table and the wavy edge along the bottom edge of the table.  The intricate rose image is from Craft Emotions via Topflight Stamps (Botanical Rose Garden 1 – retired I think), and was stamped onto a Winnie & Walter scalloped, pierced, die cut panel in CP Twilight ink.  I added the sentiment (from Simply Graphic – it translates as Happy Birthday) in the same ink and scored a double frame round the stamping to mimic the photo frame.  The finished panel was popped up on craft foam onto an oyster grey card base.

          

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … the colours, shapes, beach house feel … or something else?  Wherever your creative imagination takes you, we’d love to see your card in our gallery!  This fortnight, we’re sponsored by Topflight Stamps … our winner, as chosen by the Design Team, will receive a $25 GC to the store, as well as being invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog, along with plenty of ideas from the DT to inspire you … it’s so worth a visit!

I’m playing along at …

AAA Cards – Maxi White Space … No Optional Twist of Christmas In July

AAA Birthday – For The Girls

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Less is More – Celebrations

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

        

         

Twofer Card Challenge #17 – Bees

Hello … bonjour!  We’ve arrived at the 10th of the month … which means there’s a fabulous new challenge just started at Twofer!  This time we’re asking you to get busy with …

… here’s where I buzzed off to …

… a sweet anniversary card and a lush birthday card … with the common image on both from a retired WPlus9 set called Birds and Bees.  Here’s a closer look at each one …

Clean and simple … the bees, their heart shaped flight trail and the sentiment (Simon and Papertrey) were stamped and clear heat embossed.  The bees were coloured with alcohol markers, I added Spectrum Noir shimmer to the wings and the heart … and topped the heart with a layer of Glossy Accents.  The frame was cut using an irregular rectangle die from Simply Graphic and was popped up on craft foam.

My twofer is another conventional use of those cute bees …

         

… buzzing about in a verdant Pinkfresh Studio garden.  I stamped and watercoloured the two sets of Lush Greenery images … one direct onto the card base, the other on a separate piece of card.  The latter piece and some craft foam were cut with the matching die (thanks, Darnell!), I stacked the two together and adhered them to the base.  The bees flew in from their hive in the meadow at the end of the garden and are checking out the best places to find a tasty morsel … there must be lots to sample … just look at all that pollen floating through the air!  The main sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio (Bird With Flowers) … can’t find it on the website so p’raps it’s retired … a similar one is here.   The supplementary sentiment (Simon) was heat embossed in white on a strip of black card and popped up on foam tape.

How about joining us with some bees of your own … we’d love to see you in our gallery!    All the details about how to play along are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of splendid inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have the super talented Coni from Witch Craft? as our Guest Designer this month … welcome Coni!  If you haven’t met Coni yet, do go over and have a gentle meander through her blog … there’s so much to see and enjoy … and be inspired by!  Even if you are familiar with her work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My love struck bees are buzzing off to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Wedding/Anniversary

… and those busy bees are calling in at …

AAA Birthday – Use Watercolours

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

Pinkfresh Studio – Mix and Match (Lush Greenery and Bird With Flowers)

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

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

          

          

 

A New Challenge At Time Out – #136 – Home Sweet Home

Hello … bonjour!  Thanks so much for all your lovely comments following my last post … reading them all was like having a great big group hug … and they gave me a smile to wear all over my face and heart!  It’s been a delight to be back in blogland this last few days and to be be inspired by all you’ve been creating … what talent there is to enjoy in this wonderful community of ours!  I’m popping in today to tell you about our new challenge that’s just gone live at Time Out … for the next two weeks, we have a Home Sweet Home photograph to inspire you (it’s a little further down) … here’s my take on it …

… and here’s the bold, floral inspiration …

Guess you can see what I was drawn to!  Isn’t my poppy die gorgeous?  It’s from Penny Black and was a gift from the lovely Loll (thanks so much, my friend!) … and it’s making it’s debut.  It’s cut from mixed media card and coloured with Zigs … with some Distress Ink sponging on the edges of the flowers.  The base card background was masked and sponged with Distress Ink … and then stencilled over using the same colour ink to give it a tone on tone look.  I wanted the blooms to be dimensional but curling the petals up meant that the background could be seen beneath them when they were adhered in place.  See through flowers … hmmm!  I took care of that by cutting duplicates of each flower head, colouring them, trimming off the edges so they’d fit inside the originals and slotting them into place inside each poppy.  The sentiment is from Simply Graphic and I finished with a scattering of sequins.  Here’s a closer look at the dimension of those now non-see-through flowers …

        

What grabs your imagination in our photo?  There are so many ways you could be inspired … and we’d be delighted to see what you make in our gallery!  This time around, we’re sponsored by STAMPlorations, who are offering a $25 GC to our winner (thanks, Shery!).  All the details are over at the Time Out blog, where there’s a whole heap of ideas to spark your creativity … from our fabulous DT and from our super talented Guest Designer, Greta from GG Creations.  Do go and have a visit with Greta … there are so many gorgeous ideas to meander through and enjoy … you won’t want to miss it!

I’m playing along at …

CAS Stencil – Stencilling Over A Coloured Background

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Use Stencils

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Bright Colours Inspiration Board (Below … Top Right Picture)

The Paper Players – Clean And Simple Plants

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