A New Challenge At Time Out – #110 – Home Sweet Home

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started at Time Out … this time round, we have a vibrant, funky, retro style Home Sweet Home photograph to inspire you to join us … it’s a little further down … here’s my take on it …

… and here’s that bright, colourful inspiration …

I focussed on the florals in the wallpaper … selected the yellows, oranges, pinks and greens for my stamped and masked Essentials By Ellen bouquet … and chose the white lampshade as the base for my colours, rather than the taupe on the walls.  My Winnie & Walter die cut and ombré sponged sentiment mimics that vivid pink chair, with the supplementary Essentials by Ellen ‘birthday’ picking up the frame underneath it.  I finished off with some white gel pen doodling on the light pink and orange flowers … and a scattering of Lucy’s Little Gems.  Voilà … fresh and clean with just a smidge of sparkle!

What sets your imagination in motion in our Home Sweet Home photo … the bold colours, those cool shapes, maybe that framed picture or the wooden floor … 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 fabulous sponsor, Happy Little Stampers (thanks, Kylie!) 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 brilliant ideas from our fabulous DT and from our super talented Guest Designer, Ksenija from Sweet Kobylkin.  Ksenija’s blog is chock full of the most delicious cards … you probably know that already (and if you don’t, what a wonderful discovery you’ve made!) … why not pop over and see her, explore and say hello while you’re there … you’ll have a fantastic time!

I’m playing along at …

AAA Cards – Inspired By Nature

CAS On Friday – Birthday

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Inspired By A Song … She’s a Wildflower by Lauren Alaina

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use More Than One Stamp … there are six here (two sets)

Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday – Sunshine & Summertime … sunny summer blooms

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

        

              

 

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Twofer Card Challenge #5 – Butterflies

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to another Twofer Card Challenge … this month, we have a lovely prompt for you … perfect for this time of year.  It’s …

Here’s how my fluttery friends landed …

My common stamp here is from Uniko‘s English Country Garden – Butterflies set … it ranks as my current favourite butterfly image (I used the smaller of the two here), it’s so beautifully detailed and lends itself to both line art stamping and to colouring (especially the large one after heat embossing).  Here’s a closer look at that first kaleidoscope of flutterers …

A one layer birthday card, simply stamped in ombré pinks to purples along one edge … a sentiment from Winnie & Walter in grey with the supplementary ‘birthday’ from SSS nestled beneath, in the same colour as the adjacent butterfly … and a scattering of glimmery gems to match.  CAS and done!

My Twofer …

A friendship card … clean and crisp once again … with a little more dimension than the first.  I die cut a circle from the front panel, adhered a piece of brusho’d paper (there’s still a little left from the Lake House!) direct onto the card base and popped the panel up on craft foam over it.  The butterfly was stamped onto vellum in white pigment ink, heat set, trimmed out and had a little shimmer added with Wink of Stella (which combined with the ink, gave it a soft, frosty look … happy accident!).  It was adhered along the body to the brusho’s, I drew in the antenna with a white gel pen, added some glossy accents to the body and folded the wings up.  The sentiment is from SSS … IMO a delightful sentiment for a friend … and it seems to go along just so with the butterfly.  It’s stamped, trimmed and adhered with foam dots.   I took a close up so you could see the shimmery, shiny detail …

Voilà … my two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamp!

Where will our ‘Butterfly’ prompt take you this month?  We’d love to see your two distinctly different cards … 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,  along with heaps of fantastic inspiration from the simply splendid DT … is over at the Twofer blog … it’s just a click away!  We’re delighted to have two Guest Designers with us this time round … Linda from Life In The Craft Lane and Mac from The Sweetest of Peas, winners of our March challenge.  Do go and have a visit with Linda and Mac … apart from their delicious Twofer cards, you’ll find loads of wonderful inspiration to meander through and enjoy!

My birthday card is going to be celebrating at …

Addicted to Stamps & More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers CAS – One Layer Card

SSS Monday – Ombré

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

… and my friendship card is heading to …

Addicted to Stamps & More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Clean and Simple (Optional)

The Cat’s Pajamas – Die Cutting

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

         

                   

         

A New Challenge At Time Out – #108 – We Challenge You To Be: Wild!

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge starts this morning at Time Out … this fortnight … We Challenge You To Be … Wild!   Here’s where I went with the theme …

Yep, wild flowers … in luscious blue and teal hues with a touch of minty green.  Winnie & Walter provided all the elements of this design … the blooms (In Bloom: Victoria’s Very Merry Flowers), the dotty grey background (Mini Scenery: Spotty) and the sentiment (Sentimental: Birthday) … and I added a scattering of Nuvo Grey Mist Jewel Drops.Where will our challenge take your creative imagination … to wild things, as mine did … to a wild colour palette … to a wild design … or somewhere else?  Wherever it takes you, we’d love to see what you create!  This time round, we’re sponsored by Winnie & Walter (thanks, Shay!) … our  winner, as voted for by the DT will receive a $25 GC from the store … and as usual, 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 inspiration from our wonderful DT … and from our uber talented Guest Designer, my delightful friend (and probably yours too!), Darnell.  You already know and love her … why not pop over to see her and let her know that!

I’m playing along at …

Addicted to Stamps & More – Clean and Simple (If it’s not CAS enough, ladies, please delete!)

SSS Monday – Flower Power

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes

Winnie & Walter Rerun – Big, Bold & Baby … don’t own this set, inspired by Gayatri (below)

Winnie & Walter April Colour Combo – Grey, Teals, Blue, Green (below)

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 🙂

                   

         

A New Challenge at Time Out – #103 – Hobbies!

Hello … bonjour!  We have a fabulous new challenge starting today at Time Out … this fortnight we have a theme … Hobbies … with the optional twist of making a one layer card.  I chose not to twist this time around … and made this delicate little number …

Are you wondering what hobby my card illustrates?  Have a guess … got it yet?  If you came up with lace making you’re spot on … or even crochet would do it.  I don’t do either, though did dabble in the latter many years ago!  I sponged a panel of Bristol card stock with three different distress inks, did a little splattering over the top and left it to dry.  My doily die cut is from Waffle Flower … one of a number given to me by my lovely, non blogging, card making friend Judith last summer (she comes for a playdate every year while visiting family in the area) … isn’t it pretty?  I trimmed off the edge and adhered it over the blended area of my panel, leaving the outer couple of centimetres free to turn up a little.  The ‘Thanks’ is from SSS … die cut from vellum and black … hung slightly over the edge of the doily, with the supplementary sentiment embossed in white on a slender black strip.  I added a single ink-sponged heart (from Winnie & Walter), covered it with Spectrum Noir sparkle … and topped it and the die cut ‘Thanks’ with Glossy Accents, before attaching the panel to my card base.

How creative will you be with our Hobbies theme … and will you use our optional twist?  It was only when I started looking through my stash that the idea of lace making came to me … till then the ideas well was dry!  Why not check out your stamps and dies and see if they prompt an idea or two … we’d love to see what you make in our gallery!   This fortnight, we’re sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays (thanks, Michele!), who are offering a $20 GC to a random twister … and as usual, our overall winner, as voted for by the DT, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog … along with heaps of inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Ashwini from Experiments With Card Making Etc.  Why not pop over and have a visit with Ashwini … you’ll have a fabulous time exploring all the wonderful, fun, bright, happy cards on display … and you can leave her some love while you’re there!

I’m playing along at …

Addicted to CAS – Teal

Addicted to Stamps & More – Clean and Simple

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp – Send A Card To A Friend Day

SSS Wednesday – Add A Die Cut

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

       

                  

Twofer Card Challenge #2

Hello … bonjour!  It’s time to get excited all over again … our next Twofer Card Challenge starts right now!  Thanks to your ingenuity and creativity, our first gallery was chock full of fabulous cards showcasing two different designs … for two different occasions … using the same stamps and/or dies.  How about stretching those creative muscles again this month?  This time round, our word prompt is …       Here’s where I went with my Twofer …

The thing that these two CAS cards have in common is the Concord & 9th die cut heart … all the other elements are distinctly different.  Here’s a closer look at each one …

         

Here, I made the hearts into delicate flowers … using just the outline cuts turned upside down and adhered along the centre line to a kraft card base.  They’re folded up a little to add interest and dimension.  The stems are made from very slender strips of cardstock, attached flat to the base.  I white heat embossed a birthday sentiment from Winnie & Walter … and added a drift of enamel accent dots to mimic seed heads floating in a summer breeze.

My Twofer …

This time I used a series of whole hearts in my design.  They were cut from a piece of card that had been rainbow watercoloured with Distress Inks … and were adhered flat to a panel of black cardstock in a graphic pattern.  The Sending Hugs sentiment was made up of two dies from SSS and I added a Lucy’s Little Gem to each heart (to match the background colour).  The panel was trimmed down and popped up on craft foam onto a white card base … the white border ties the white sentiment into the design.

Voilà … my two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same die!

So … will you let your creative imagination run wild with ‘Hearts’?  We’d love to see your two distinctly different cards … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamps/dies … in our gallery!  All the information you need, including timescales, guidelines, rules and FAQs,  along with loads of fantastic inspiration from the wonderful DT … is over at the Twofer blog … it’s just a click away!  Hope you can join us!

My birthday card is celebrating at …

CAS on Friday – Use a Die

CAS-ual Fridays – Hearts, Hearts and More Hearts

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday – No Candle Topping

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

… and my watercolour hearts are hugging at …

CAS Watercolour – Heart

Fusion – Stained Glass Hearts Inspiration (below)

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Optional Twist Hearts

SSS Monday – Love Is In The Air

SSS Wednesday – It Must Be Love

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

               

         

         

         

A New Challenge At Time Out – #101 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  We have a lovely new challenge starting today at Time Out, where we’re Inspired By Words … Each day is a gift.  Open it.  Celebrate it.  Enjoy It.  It is indeed!  Here’s my take on it …

A one layer card, stamped and heat embossed with this gift bearing chickie (from SSS) and coloured with Zigs.  The Winnie & Walter happy sentiment was cut, ombré sponged with Distress Ink and set back into the card (the inside was lined) … and the birthday (from the same Birthday Farm Animals set as the chickie) was nestled in underneath it.  I finished off with some Lucy’s Little Gems … and added Glossy Accents and Enamel Accents to the eyes.  If you go in for a closer look you’ll see the shiny excitement in them … seems he’s all ready to start opening, celebrating and enjoying!

Where will our words take your creative imagination?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love to see what you make!  This time, we’re sponsored by Birch Press Design … our overall winner (as voted for by the DT) will receive a $20 GC … and will also be invited to design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with a plenty of inspiration from our fabulous DT … as well as from our Guest Designer, my super talented and lovely friend, Michele from I Card Everyone.  You probably know Michele already … if not, you really need to!  There’s so much deliciousness to take in over at her blog, you really don’t want to miss out on a visit!  Enjoy!

I’m playing along at …

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Birds of a Feather

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Add a Sentiment

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