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 #34 – Flowers

Hello … bonjour … and Happy New Year … Bonne Année! May this year be blessed with good health, joy, hope and creativity for us all.  Welcome back, too, after my six week blogland break … it’s great to be here again! Over at Twofer ,we’re leaping into our fourth year of challenges … with plenty of delicious prompts to inspire you … and some changes to the Design Team. We’re saying a very fond farewell to the lovely and super talented Kara and Cat … and saying a warm and happy hello to our new team members, Sonja and Bonnie … welcome, ladies! If you’ve played along at Twofer before, you’ll know how much fun it is to create two distinctly different designs for two different occasions using the same stamps, dies or stencils … and if you haven’t yet joined us … why not give it a go? This month we have one of my favourite card making themes to tempt you … and I’m pretty sure you’ll be itching to dig out your supplies when you see the prompt. It’s …

I created a bold, dramatic ‘just because’ card … and a bright, spring-like ‘beautiful day’ card … using this gorgeous Summer Sketches bloom from The Greetery. Here’s a closer look at each one …

This is one of my go-to clean and simple designs … the image is centred on the card and the sentiment (from Catherine Pooler) is stamped just below it. I added subtle detail by embossing a frame with a die from Spellbinders and doing a little splattering. There’s also a touch of shimmer and shine on the flowers and stamens, which you can see better here …

I stayed with the conventional use of the flower for my second card …

This is another CAS design … albeit a little fuller than the first. Here, the outline flowers were gold embossed in diagonally opposite corners of the card to form a frame around the WPlus9 sentiment (also gold embossed), before being over stamped with the solid images. I added some Nuvo drops to match and added interest by double scoring the two empty corners.

How about joining us with some flowers 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 heaps of splendid inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have two fabulous Guest Designers joining us this month … Viv from Viv’s Visuals … and Brenda from Inkspired To Stamp … welcome ladies!  If you haven’t met these talented artists yet, do go and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll find inspiration galore!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My single floral sprig is heading to …

CAS Mix Up – Splatters (plus dry embossing and stamping)

Color Hues – Red and Grey (happy to be playing along at last!)

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

… and my spring florals are joining in at …

Addicted to CAS – Emboss

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

The Flower Challenge – Heat/Dry Embossing

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

Twofer Card Challenge #32 – Silhouettes

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

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

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

My second card has a much more summery feel …

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

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on silhouettes … we’d be delighted to see you (and them) in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Carol from Just Me: C and Shawna from The Grand Stampede … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Carol and Shawna … you’re sure to be inspired by their wonderful work … and you can always say while you’re there too!

My autumn silhouettes are heading to …

Bastel-traum – Fall

CAS on Friday – Autumn

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Sunday Stamps – Colour Palette (below)

… and my summery blue hues are joining in at …

Just Us Girls – Ombré

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Dry Embossing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

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

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

A New Challenge At Time Out – #158 – A Lot Or A Little Purple

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started over at Time Out … and it’s a special one.  Today is Epilepsy Awareness Day … also called Purple Day, as the colour purple and the purple ribbon represent epilepsy.  It’s a day that’s close to our hearts at Time Out because Sandie, our beloved leader, has epilepsy.  You can find out more here … and by visiting Sandie’s blog here, where she talks about her own experience of living with the condition.  We’d like to help raise awareness of this often misunderstood and complicated illness … so our theme for this fortnight is … a lot or a little purple … with an optional twist of friendship (we thought it would be nice to send a purple card to a friend to give them a smile!).   Here’s the card I sent to give a dear friend a smile …

This delicious image and sentiment are from a set called Simple Things, from The Greetery … I love it!  I was delighted to be able to chose it (and another set) after winning a GC to the store last year … and promptly set about finding some inspiration for using it.  Unsurprisingly, given her delicious CAS style, Laurie at Soapbox Creations provided me with just that, with this card (thanks, Laurie!).  I just changed the colour palette … made my eucalyptus purple and did the sentiment in espresso ink … added those delicate splatters … and the set itself did the rest!

          

How will you interpret our special Epilepsy Awareness theme … and will you use a lot or just a little purple?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time round, 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 friendship 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 Time Out … along with lots of fabulous ideas from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Kavya at Handmade By Kavya.  Do pop over and visit Kavya … you can have a wonderful browse round the all the loveliness … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My purple bloom is playing along at … .

Happy Little Stampers CAS – A Favourite Technique … adding splatter

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

Hoping and praying that you’re all staying safe and well, wherever you are in the world.  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

Some Penguins And A Frog

Hello … bonjour … and bon dimanche!  I have a couple of designs to share today that are a bit of fun … and might even bring you a smile 🙂 .  After all, smiles are always good for us … maybe even more so than usual given what’s going on in the world.  Here ‘s the first …

This was made for someone with a Saint Patrick’s Day birthday … hence the colour palette.  The penguins are from The Cats Pajamas and were coloured with Zigs and a waterbrush.  As you can see, one of them stands out from the crowd with his dapper jewelled bow tie, black beak and yellow/orange feathers (as opposed to the yellow/orange beaks and black feathers of his compatriots).  They’re all standing on a stamped banner from Papertrey that was over stamped with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  This is such a fun set that can be used for masculine and feminine cards, depending on what colour palette is used … whoever said penguins had to be black in card making world?  Here are a couple of other masculine ones I made using the same design …

    

… and I’m thinking pink or coral feathers would be good for some feminine ones … and p’raps a necklace or maybe a bow on the hats … what d’you think?

These Saint Patrick’s Day birthday penguins are heading to (badges below) …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

CAS Watercolour – Luck Of The Irish

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes … no flower option

Seize The Birthday – Touch of Green

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes With A Masculine Twist

My second design is QACAS (Darnell-ese for Quick And Clean And Simple) …

The crimped frame die cut aperture is from The Greetery … a Penny Black Stickeroo frog leapt into the open space from inside the card (you can imagine my surprise) … and once he’d settled down a little, I nestled the birthday sentiment from Papertrey right by the celebratory balloon.  Here’s what he looks like when the card is upright …

… energetic chap isn’t he?

He’s bouncing over to (badges below) …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

CAS On Friday – Birthday

Penny Black Saturday – Anything Goes … maybe with the Think Spring option … he is springing!

Seize The Birthday – Touch of Green

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

   

         

    

Twofer Card Challenge #25 – Spring Animals

Hello … bonjour!  Our fun March challenge has just launched at Twofer … and this month we’re inviting some Spring Animals to play with us …

… mine are spring chicks …

A bright rainbow Just Because card … and a sweet, sunny Hello card … with some long legged chicks from Technique Tuesday as the common image.   Here’s a closer look at each one …

On this card, my design is a set of panels across the centre of the card, with the sentiment spread out underneath them.  They were die cut with Hero Arts Infinity Dies and each one was stamped with the long legged chick.  The chicks were then masked and I sponged two colours of distress ink on each one to create an ombré style rainbow.  The sentiment (from Concord & 9th) was stamped onto the base card and I mounted each little chick panel over it on craft foam.

I went with another conventional use of the chicks on my twofer …

Here there’s an ombré sponged and stacked hello die cut from Winnie & Walter (NLIB) set along the lower third of the card.  The alcohol marker coloured long legged chick and his little friend were perched on top of the word … and the supplementary chickie sentiment (Waltzing Mouse Stamps, also NLIB) was stamped underneath it.  The crimped frame on the card base is from The Greetery.

How about joining us with some Spring Animals 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 heaps of splendid inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have two super talented Guest Designers joining us this month … Bobby from Bits and Pieces … and Brenda from Inkspired To Stamp … welcome ladies!  If you haven’t met these fabulous artists yet, do go over and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll have a splendid time finding inspiration galore!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My rainbow panel chicks are heading to …

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Favourite Technique … Ombré Blending

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Animal:  Real or Magical (hope chickies count!)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Something Feminine

… and those chickie chums are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Favourite Technique … Ombré Blending

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Animal:  Real or Magical (hope chickies count!)

Less Is More – Big And Small … big sentiment, little chicks

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Something Feminine

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

            

     

A New Challenge At Time Out – #156 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a bold, vibrant Home Sweet Home image to inspire you (it’s a little further down).   Here’s where I went with it …

and here …

… and here’s the bright, fun inspiration picture …

Don’t think I really need to tell you what drew my attention!  I translated the yellow table and aqua-blue walls into flowers and added the leaves to mimic those in the vase.  On the first card, the blooms are from Altenew‘s Watercolour Wonders … the sentiment’s from Avery Elle … and the scalloped, stitched panel was cut with a Winnie & Walter die (NLIB).  I added iridescent seed beads to the flower centres and popped the panel up on craft foam.   The second card features the same flowers and leaves from Altenew … a sentiment from Simon … a Crimped Frame die cut panel from The Greetery … and black glitter in the flower centres.

     

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … those bold colours, the framed pictures, the stack of books … 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 Altenew, who are offering the winner (as voted for by the DT) a $20 GC … and as usual, our winner will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with plenty of fabulous ideas from the DT and from our super talented Guest Designer, Maria F from Riesling Mama, to inspire you!

I’m playing along at …

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

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

     

Twofer Card Challenge #23 – Hearts

Hello … bonjour!  If this is your first visit here for 2020 … Bonne Année/Happy New Year … may it be blessed with good health, joy and creativity for us all!  Talking of creativity, our first Twofer challenge of the year has just started and this month it’s a particularly special one.  It’s our 2nd Blogaversary … and we’re celebrating with some amazing prizes!  Do go over to Twofer for all the details … you really don’t want to miss out on what Darnell has in store for our winners!  So what are we inviting you to showcase this time around?  Take a look at our prompt badge …

My common element is Poppy Stamps‘ Heart Screen (now retired) … with the inside hearts used unconventionally for my Christmas card … and the outline screen used conventionally for my Anniversary card.  Here’s a closer look at each one …

Three lots of hearts were cut from a piece of cardstock I’d smooched and splattered some time ago.  I arranged them into a Christmas tree shape right down the centre of the card and popped them up on different depths of foam dots onto a white panel cut with a die from The Greetery.  I stamped the stand (Papertrey) and popped up the gold foil star (Concord & 9th) … decorated the tree with red gem ornaments … and added shimmer spritz (after masking all but the tree).  The panel was matted onto some co-ordinating DP, which was then adhered to the card base.  A sentiment didn’t fit anywhere very well, so I’ll add a Christmas greeting inside when the time comes.  How about a closer look at all the shooshy colour, dimension and shimmer/shine …

In contrast, my conventional card is subtle and understated …

Here I used a fog grey panel for my ‘thirds’ design.  I white heat embossed the soft, splattery background (Concord & 9th) vertically onto the lower right two thirds of the card and the primary sentiment (Simon) horizontally along the top left two thirds.  The heart screen was cut once in gold foil and twice in white … they were stacked together and adhered over the white background.  The tiny supplementary sentiment (also Simon) was white heat embossed onto a sliver of gold foil card and popped up on foam tape … and I added a scattering of gold hearts (from the inside of the screen).  The panel was trimmed to size and adhered to the card base.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on hearts … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs (and don’t forget those prizes!) are at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of brilliant ideas from the DT to inspire you.  We’re delighted to have two Guest Designers joining us this month, both talented winners of our October challenge …. welcome to Jane from Onions and Paper and to Jacquie from What Did I Do Today?.  If you haven’t met Jane and Jacquie 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 Christmas tree is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes (With Option Trim The Tree)

Poppy Stamps – From The Heart

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Something New (Greetery Frame Die)

The Paper Players – Something New (Greetery Frame Die)

… and my Anniversary card is joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Poppy Stamps – From The Heart

The Card Concept – Time To Celebrate Inspiration (my eye was taken with the cluster of golden ornaments and the waxy white candles – Clean and Classy – CAS/Classy & Elegant Style)

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

             

         

A New Challenge At Time Out – #152 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello …. bonjour … et Bonne Année … Happy New Year!  Hope your Christmas was filled with joy and that your new year will be blessed with all good things!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a love themed Home Sweet Home image to inspire you (it’s a little further down) that’s fresh and fun.  Here’s where I went with it …

… and here’s that sweet inspiration picture …

As you can see, my attention was taken by the heart covered twigs on the mantlepiece … mine are from The Greetery (branch) and Winnie & Walter (hearts).  Some simple stamping of the branch in brown and the sentiment in black (also The Greetery) … with the addition of the die cut red hearts, topped with shimmer and shine (more visible below) … and voila … nice and CAS!

        

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … the crisp white with pops of red, the texture of the frame and fireplace, the banner … 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 Funky Fossil Designs (thanks, Sarah!), who are offering our winner (as voted for by the DT) a £15 GC to the store … and as usual, our winner will also be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with plenty of fabulous ideas from the DT to inspire you!

I’m playing along at …

Color Throwdown – Red, Brown, White

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp – Something New … my The Greetery stamps

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes

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