Happy Birthday Allsorts!

 An amazing challenge and Birthday celebration at Allsorts!  They will celebrate 13 years with 13 wonderful prizes.  The main prize will be Sizzix and Paper Boutique colored card, DP's and Scrapbook kit.

Plus stamps from various makers, and three images from Ruth Hamilton Design.

 I hope you will check the Design Team inspiration and join us in celebrating crafting!

For my card I ink blended a birthday candle stencil from Brutus Monroe. After cutting with a stitched square, I tied a bit of white and gold twine and matted my 'gift package' on some shimmer card stock and foam popped it on the blue card base. The candle flames were enhanced with a shimmer pen, and sentiment from Gina K Designs was gold heat embossed.

Lending a hand AHSC 473

 

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has a new one for you today!

I used paper from My Favorite things for the card base front. The inside panel  4"x2 3/4" was given a light blend of ink and then I gold embossed a pattern from Concord & 9th Painted Shapes set.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Big Thanks Words set.  I added some tiny flowers punched and tiny leaves die cut using Mama Elephant Botanic Envelope dies.

I am hostess for a large tea this Thursday, and made several of these as thank you cards for my helpers.

Hope you will play along!

                                              lots of shine from embossing and gold confetti

Allsorts Sparkles!

 A fun new theme at Allsorts begins today with challenge #676 "Add Some Sparkle"

There are two prizes for this challenge: a store voucher for WOWVOW and two Paper Boutique stencils.

I added my sparkle with a gold embossed sentiment, gold gel pen flower centers, gold thread and some gold confetti embellishments.  Coloring the panel was a very pleasant way to spend the rainy day. It looks like fancy patterned paper, but I got lots of alcohol ink blending practice!

                            

Products used:   CAS-ual Friday floral stamp                                                                                                                        Altenew Artists Markers; gold thread                                                                                                            Gina K Designs sentiment and die

Please get out your sparkly products and have some fun. Link up HERE so we can see what you create!

                                                                             AND

Some exciting upcoming celebration at Allsorts! 

Z Fold Thanks

New sketch at Try Stampin' On Tuesday!   

Sketch  #555 has an optional theme to use pastels.

This one is fantastic - so many ideas for this and went with a Z Fold card first.  I didn't use the pastel option for this card.

Check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration. We hope you will join us at TSOT!

The Gina K Designs sentiment was stamped in Versafine Magestic Blue and cut with the coordinating die.  This set, Thank You Greetings, has several sentiments that fit in the banner.  I used a border punch, and stamped and cut the flowers and butterfly with Fab Flowers set from Lawn Fawn. The paper is from my scrap stash.

Crafty Notes

New at Sketch Saturday!  Sketch #700 - option to try distressing.

I have created my inspiration for you with a new set to me - Gina K Designs Crafty Notes. I masked some card and ink blended a rainbow of color and cut out with a stitched rectangle. The stamped images were colored with Copics and cut with the coordinating dies. I did a light ink distressing around the sentiment.  A fun colorful card for a crafty friend.

I hope you will link up your take on the sketch

Hanging Garden Die

The new challenge theme at Allsorts is to create using your favorite stamps or dies.  The sponsor for this week is Oakwood Direct offering two prizes - a surprise craft pack and a stencil.  I hope you will play along with Allsorts #675!

 Currently, my favorite stamps and dies are from Gina K Designs and Altenew.  My card today uses the Hanging Gardens die from Altenew cut from a mat gold card stock.  Die cuts are a wonderful way to finish a background piece.  My panel on the left was created using a very fun technique from Chrissy Stokes. She has a video HERE about inking with tissue paper and then crunching it up on the card stock. Once dry you lightly rub with Luster Wax.

The right side was stamped with a very old text stamp in Old Paper Distress Oxide, and splattered Black Soot. The sentiment is from Gina K's Bitty Botanicals.

                                

Spring Thanks

 It's always a happy Monday because of a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

Sketch #471 inspired me to create a mini-slimline card. I was cleaning my workspace and found some pretty snippets I just couldn't throw away. One was perfect for the lone rectangle on the left. The rest was done with CTMH paper stash and Gina K Designs Spring Greetings and Painted Blossoms set. I did a bit of stenciling on the green patterned paper and white circle with a Gina K stencil.

You can see the creations of my design team colleagues on Wednesday on the AHSC site.

Hope you will get crafty and share your creation with us at AHSC this week!

A Beach Scene

Marvelous new challenge at Allsorts for this week!  Anything Goes with Option for a Scene. Prizes this week: three images from Ruth Hamilton Design and a stamp from our hostess. 

Well, as I design my team card for the challenge I am attending a crafting weekend at the Coastal Retreat. It's a huge house in Ocean City that 9 of us rent twice a year. It's a short walk to the beach, and the house is full of collections and antiques. Each room has a theme with handmade quilts in every space. I'm the only paper crafter here - all others are cross-stitching, quilting, or wood burning. So fun!!

I adore the ocean and spent every summer of my childhood at ocean either in Rhode Island or The Cape.  Now that I live on the west coast I go to the coast whenever possible. Trip east to visit my brother coming up in June.

For my card I have used two long retired (and beloved) CTMH sets. I cut the sand fence and popped it on top. All was colored with pencil and a bit of ink blending for sky and sand.  I did some ink cube dragging on the kraft card base to give it a wood look. 

I hope you will create a fun scene and join the challenge at Allsorts!

Two peeks at the house...

Bee Kind

 There is a new sketch today at Try Stampin' On Tuesday!  The sketch has an option of 'things that fly."

So my design team inspiration card uses the sketch and the option with a bee. The image and sentiment are a mini set from Altenew. I cut the stitched hexagons with a die from Pretty Pink Posh. The hexagon stamped in black is from a very old CTMH set, papers from my stash. 

Check out the amazing takes on sketch #553 by the rest of the design team and I hope you will join in and have some fun crafting. Link up HERE

Sweetest

 

My card was inspired by the sketch and photo at Fusion, and linking to Krafty Chicks #608 - Diane's challenge to create a CAS card. 

I have used Altenew Paint-A-Flower Hydrangea image that was embossed, ink blended, highlighted with pencil and gamsol, then fussy cut. The sentiment is from the PAF Sweet Pea set.

Caring Flowers

 Inspired by a sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #532 and colors at Color Throwdown #689

My card uses the floral image and sentiment from Caring Flowers, Gina K Designs. I heat embossed with gold and colored with alcohol markers, then cut the panel down.

Flowing Florals SS#699

Happy Saturday!  

My design team inspiration for the new sketch at Sketch Saturday features images from the Flowing Florals set, Gina K Designs. The white heat embossed sentiment is also GKD, So Many Sentiments. Papers are from my CTMH retired stash. Embossing folder from Altenew.

The challenge will run for two weeks -today through May 6th. 

I hope you will check out the rest of the cards by the team and link up your own creation for us to see.

Happy crafting!

I Spy Something with 'B'

 Ellie's very fun challenge begins at Allsorts!  "I Spy Something with B"  Prize for the winner of the challenge is from Pearlywinks, and two Paper Discovery stencils,  generous sponsors at Allsorts.

My grandchildren love playing "I spy something with my little eye" - even the bigger kids get into it.  

My card for the challenge focuses on my favorite thing after crafting: Baking!! It just makes me happy to be in the kitchen cooking. My Mimee started teaching me as a toddler and I had small bread and pie tins to use along side her. I created a random stamped panel all from the Sugar & Spice Inspiration set from Brutus Monroe. I colored them with alcohol markers. The sentiments are from strips included in that set.

Check out the design team cards at Allsorts to see the many different "B" creations!  And play along. My list was bubbles, bicycles, butterflies, bees, bunnies, baby, balloons, birds, blue.....what do you spy?

Hope you will create something fun for us to see.

CAS Botanical

Yesterday while on a lengthy phone call I cut a lot of botanicals from the new Botanical Duo set from Gina K Designs, and later I made this card inspired by the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge.

I used a scrap of heavy weight card and inked blended color in areas where it would back blooms and leaves. I spritzed it with water to create some bokeh.  After trimming the the little panel, I stacked three die cuts together for dimension and adhered them.  The sentiment froman Altenew mini set was stamped and then adhered the panel with dimensional tape.

    

CAS Colours & Sketches #466

                                               Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Amaryllis

Sketch #469 at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge started today and runs through Sunday, April 24th.

My design team card for #469 uses Gina K Designs Master Layout 7 for all the panels for this mini-slim-line. I love how the stitching matches up perfectly and how quickly you can have all the pieces perfectly sized.  I used a GKD stencil for the background and the envelope flap. The flowers are Altenew's mini Amaryllis colored with Copic markers, and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies set (May 2020 kit).  I added some texture with two very old background CTMH stamps.

Please join the challenge so we can see what you have done with this week's sketch!

TSOT 551 Cupcake

 The new challenge at Try Stampin' On Tuesday gives you some choices: inspiration photo or sketch, or both.  I just used the sketch, but was inspired by the pink in the lower photo. 

The stamp is a mini-layering stamp & die set from Altenew, and the sentiment is from a pre-printed sheet in the Brutus Monroe Sugar & Spice kit. 

 

I hope you will check the blog for rest of the design team creations and be inspired to get crafty. Link up so we can see your work HERE. The team really loves to visit and leave some love.

Happy Crafting!