Congrats!

Ultra-quickie!! Sliding in as the door closes on Keep It Simple Things with Wings

Also entering Muse - here's Vicki's inspiration card:

Using Dynamic Duos colours:

And also entering Unscripted Sketches

Bye!

Under My Umbrella And A Case Of Being CASEd

I'm playing along with Dynamic Duos which closes in a few hours.  It's Black Tie week and the theme is pink and black with a dessert option of an umbrella.

As there are a couple of "love" challenges around, I thought this Unity Stamp image was perfect.  I stamped it on a small panel and coloured it, then wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it.  I had the die-cut iPhone on my desk so I thought about making it look like a photo taken on an iPhone.  I've been coveting the Skyline stamp by Penny Black ever since I saw this post by Heather T.  It arrived today so I tried it out as a murky city background.  A bit like the weather we've been having all month, but at least we've not had any of the extreme stuff that other parts of the world are getting - no-one ever died from drizzle.  I added the STAMPlorations I ♥ U image in pink for a bit of balance.

So, on to the other challenges.  At City Crafter the challenge is Love Story

At Keep It Simple, the challenge is square

And at Simon Says Wednesday challenge, Simon is starting a monthly workout.  This month it's all about "new".  (New stamp, new iPhone die.)  Love the workout gear, Simon!

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And if you take a look at the new blog on the block, Time Out Challenges, they're introducing their 4th round of challenges which is to CASE a card with your own twist.  DT member Shery has showcased this card of mine.  Pop over to see how she CASEd it with a twist.

my card

They're also having a DT call with the theme Love and Friendship, so I'm throwing my hat into the ring with my umbrella card.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

A Card in Need...

It's an unfortunate fact of life that we always need sympathy cards, and it's better to have a supply in your stash than have to make one in a hurry.

For this card, I've used the colours from Dynamic Duos:

It's another one layer card, and it's restocking the shelves, so in it goes to the One Layer Simplicity Challenge, Restocking The Shelves.

The images are from STAMPlorations Vignette Artful Flutters and the sentiment is Hero Arts D2454.

Check out the current challenges at STAMPlorations and join us:
Monthly Challenge (Stamps and Feathers)
Bi-weekly Sketch Challenge #3

Snowflakes and Scraps

I've finally finished hopping my way round the mega Moxie Fab flash mob blog hop for Cath, which started ten days ago - but there were 285 stops along the way.  And I've nearly finished making an advent village, which has taken a few weeks but I've really enjoyed doing it.  I got the idea from this month's edition of Craft Stamper, so if you're a Craft Stamper reader, you'll get an idea of what I've been up to, but I've added a bit of a twist.  I'll post some pics in December.

In the meantime, I've made this card for several challenges:

The colour scheme comes from Dynamic Duos, and I couldn't turn down the dessert option!

The challenge at Less is More is to use designer paper in a CAS way.

I've used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

And Nonni from Korttikarkuri is having a couple of Christmas challenges (with prizes).  This challenge is to use scraps or old stash on your Christmas cards.  Both challenges are open until Christmas Eve.  Pop over and take a look - better still, join in!

When I was photographing the card, the sunlight was catching the Stickles on the snowflakes beautifully, but unfortunately the camera doesn't capture it.  Just use your imagination.

Stamp: Inkadinkado

Christmas Wreath

I've just added another Christmas card to my collection - yay!  This one is inspired by this fabulous image at Curtain Call:

I found the instructions for making the background from visiting Benzi's blog (check out her gorgeous card!) where she refers to this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.  I was really pleased with how easy it was to create, and I love the result.  I scored the card to make planks before I started swooshing the inks - that way, the gaps stay clean.  I made the wreath by stamping the pine boughs, then cutting them out and adhering them to a ring made from card.  The berries are done with Liquid Pearls.

I've used the colour scheme from Dynamic Duos:

ETA: In between starting and finishing this post, a friend called, a bottle of wine was opened, and Dynamic Duos closed.  C'est la vie!

The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays is embossing:

CFC119: Use dry or heat embossing on your Clean And Simple project.

And the challenge at Simon Says Wednesday challenge is

KEEP IT CLEAN AND SIMPLE

Stamp: Stampendous Retro Ornament Set

Ribbon: stash

Sentiment bar: stash

Purple Present

A quick pit stop to post this card.  I've suddenly got back into researching my family history and it gets a bit obsessive.  Or I do.

Dynamic Duos colour combo:

Simon Says Monday Challenge Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday, Anything Goes

Although it looks like a one layer card, the present is actually popped up on thin foam dots.

Image - Tim Holtz Birthday Blueprints, sentiment Hero Arts.

Got to get back to the ancestors...

Seeing Dots

Susan at Simplicity is hosting this week's One Layer Wednesday, and she's challenging us to take inspiration from our Pinterest boards.  Even if you aren't playing along, it's a good excuse to actually look at all those photos that you've pinned.  I'm as guilty as anyone - I don't even remember pinning some of them, so it's like looking at them for the first time.  This is the the pin that inspired my card:

source

I used the colours from this week's Dynamic Duos:

And I'm also entering it into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, We're Going Dotty!

Dots and blobs: Hero Arts AC026 Brush Strokes
Sentiment: Hero ARts CL611 Many Birthday Messages

Wish Big

I'm playing along for the first time with Curtain Call, and the current challenge is Sunflower Surprise.

The surprise about my card is that there is no yellow in sight, and that's because I've used the colour palette from Dynamic Duos:

I've passed on the dessert option of wet embossing because I had an ice lolly when we went to the beach today.

The image is Tatty Button TB6 Tatty's Sunflower coloured with watercolour pencil, the sentiment is from Amy R Stamps It's Your Birthday, and the thought bubble dies are from X-Cut Speech Bubbles.

Happy Birthday Bev!

This is a long, multi-challenge post, so stick with me.  Firstly, let's deal with the celebrations - happy birthday to Bev of Happy Dance!  Sneaky emails have been circulating blogland, organising a birthday bash for Bev, and never one to refuse an invitation, I've made her this card.  Have a good one, Bev!

I used the colours from this week's Dynamic Duos challenge:

and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

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I've been doing the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 online course in readiness for Creative Chemistry 102 which is coming out soon.  So while I had distress inks out everywhere, I used the same sketch and the same technique to make more cards for more challenges.

This card is for Less is More, where this week's challenge is to make a one layer card with the theme Get Well Soon.

The code word at Addicted to CAS is also Get Well:

And I'm also entering it into this week's One Layer Wednesday, hosted by Cheryl, to create a one layer card where the sentiment is the main focus of the card.

I also made another birthday card and a sympathy card:

and I was going to enter the whole set into the new challenge at A Blog Named Hero, to make a set of 3 or more matching or coordinating cards.  But the new rules require use of Hero Arts stamps (naturally), and I'd forgotten that and didn't use any.  But here's the group photo for you anyway.

I recently bought the Memory Box Winterberry Sprig die and this was its first outing.  But when I opened the packet, the die inside was Hayden Twigs.  Bit of a surprise there, especially as Hayden Twigs is almost double the price of Winterberry Sprig!

Soft Sculpture

Penny Black are playing along with Less Is More, so I'm playing along too:

Onto our challenge for this week... We want you to use a 

RUBBER STAMP

In addition if you could use watercolours that would be wonderful!

I'm also playing along with Dynamic Duos where the challenge is plum plus a colour of your choice, in my case green.

And I'm also joining in with Pinspired where they have this gorgeous floral inspiration photo:

I coloured Penny Black 2671K Soft Sculpture with Tombow markers, spritzed lightly with water and stamped onto a card panel, then drew some of the colour in with a water brush, and swished the brush across the bottom of the vase to create a shadow and ground the image.  The sentiment from Penny Black 30-105 Gratitude is stamped with Encore Metallic Purple.