CAS Color Blocks

Ever since I got the SU! banner punch, I've been thinking of other ways to use it besides making banners. When I saw the CAS-ual Friday's CFC126 challenge for "color blocks" I pulled out  lots of mini scraps of cardstock from my bin and just began punching. I lined them up to create 2 borders, then made a border from a SSS die, cut into one thin strip of stars. I die cut a black strip and inserted those tiny black stars into the white strip, added some colored gemstones and a birthday sentiment and called this card done. This is the 2nd CAS challenge I've entered this year, so I'm trying to improve my card-making skills to include more CAS cards.

Once the gates for the Snippets Playground #108 open, I'll be entering this card over there too!

Make it a fantastic weekend!!

Carol

CAS Love (maybe?)

I don't consider myself a very good CAS card maker, but this one might just be able to slither into the Cas-ual Fridays CFC 125 gallery without the challenge police tossing me out to the curb:) The challenge this week is "In a Word." I've been making lots and lots of Valentines recently, but this one doesn't look like the layered cards I usually make (like yesterday's 9-layer card). For this reason, I thought I'd take a chance and post it to the CAS challenge. I used SU!'s banner blast stamps and matching punch to put this together, along with some twine and a SB die cut heart. Melon Mambo is my color of choice - just a fun variation from traditional red.

Thanks for poking your head in the door today - I hope you're able to stay warm wherever you live!

Carol

Flag Day and Mapquest

Happy Flag Day everyone! Cocoa Mouse is back to celebrate flag day by showing off the red, white, & blue! While posting this picture, I noticed I  forgot to color the last red stripe! Oops!! I'll fix that before I send this out to one of our OWH heroes. I quickly made this last night when I realized it was flag day, so I rushed it. Usually I forget to color Cocoa's tail, but this time it was the bottom stripe :)

I made a semi-CAS card yesterday that I think qualifies for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC105 challenge today. I love when I'm one step ahead of a challenge!

I've been carrying an old Atlas around in my car for years and decided it would be more useful for cards since we don't travel anymore. I was playing with my new SU! hexagon punch yesterday and came up with this idea. I punched all the hexes with the same punch, but trimmed the map pieces down a little bit and adhered them to solid cardstock. I added a few hearts to coordinate with the sentiment, and this card was done! It will be going into my next OWH box along with a matching envelope made of map papers. {note to self - I need to remember to add the blank address labels to the front of the envies.}

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a great weekend!

Carol

Believe You Can

There's a Tic Tac Toe challenge going on over at CAS-ual Friday's for the CFC100 to celebrate their 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday CAS-ual Fridays!
I chose the top row of the grid to make my card for today....

 

I had the Poppy dachshund die-cut on my table and created the card around it. What I really wanted was an image of a great big dog,  but I don't have one, so I just used this cute poodle image from There She Goes. I added a hand-cut ear for the doxie and used a black marker to create the eye. The polka dot dsp is from SU! pear pizzazz and peach parfait. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Friday's Calm and Gentle stamp set.

I'm also entering this card into Pixie's Crafty Snippets Playground #71 since I used just a snippet of kraft for the pooch, and some snippets of polka dot dsp too.

It's going to be a beautiful day here in PA with temps in the low 80s, so I'm heading outside to enjoy the weather!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day! Always believe you can :)

Carol

An Easter Gift Card

The challenge for CAS-ual Fridays CFC96 is "funny bunny" and they're throwing in a tricky twist this time - it can't be a card. April fool's day falls the day after Easter, so that's the reason for the "punny" challenge :) Cute!

I made my DGD a gift card for Easter this year, because she doesn't like candy! She refuses to eat chocolate, and will only eat gummy worms and bunnies. I wish I hated candy & chocolate - imagine the calories I could eliminate!
Anyway, I still had this packet of Cottage Wall dsp lying on my table from a recent project, so I used it to make this gift card along with some Rich Razzleberry card stock. The sentiment is by SU!, and it was done on a SB labels 10 die, and matted with an EK punched element. The belly band was done with a SU! scallop trim border punch and embellished with some fancy bobbin ribbon. This shows the gift card closed......

and here it is opened. I added some matching dsp to the front and back, as well as the center portion. The bunny is a die cut from AMuse;  the grass was done with a SNSS border die and embossed with a CB forest ef, and the sentiment is from G Studio. Instead of a gift card, we're tucking a little cash in the center fold because teens like the green!

Happy Friday everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

for Dad

I made this card with 2 challenges in mind. The CAS-ual Fridays CFC91 is "Hi-Ho Silver" - to use silver on your card. It's also for the Addicted to CAS #7 challenge "It's raining men" - to make a masculine card.
I used the SB  sprockets die for the circle, along with the SU! Hearts a Flutter flag dies and coordinating stamps, and embossed everything in silver. A touch of black with turquoise, and 4 silver brads was all this card needed. The "dad" was done with those old wooden stick stamps that I've had forever. I've done several of these cards in different colors, but I liked this silver one the best!

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a fabulous day!

Carol

Four Challenges for Love

Hello and a very happy Monday! I combined several challenges to make a card and it all started with this great sketch from CAS(E) this sketch#14.

This is what I began with, but after I finished it, I realized I centered the elements, and the sketch clearly shows them to the bottom. Ok scratch this and back to the drawing board.

I made a 2nd card and placed the elements to the bottom, but after I finished it, I just wasn't happy with it for some reason, so back to the craft table for one more try!

Once I decided to go with a blue heart and add some embossing and rounded corners, I was finally happy with my card! YAY! This is not only for the CAS(E) this sketch #14, but I'm also entering it into the following three challenges...

MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #146 to make a card with a "love" theme.
Pixies Crafty Snippets Playground #59 to use leftover snippets from a project
                                           (that tiny strip of polka dot dsp is my snippet)
CAS-ual Fridays CFC89  to use Love Song Inspiration

The inspiration for my card came from that great old tune by the Climax Blues Band called "I Love You." I never get tired of hearing that song!

That's going to do it for me, but I wish you all a great Monday, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

card 1

stamps - MFP Susans for Encouragement

paper- white, pink, red card stock, Bo Bunny Crush dsp

ink - versafine onyx black

accessories - MB precious hearts die lg & small, SU! framelit heart die

card 2

stamps - MFP Susans for Encouragement

paper - neenah kraft, pink, red, Bo Bunny Crazy Love

ink - early espresso

accessories - MB precious hearts die lg & small, SU! framelit heart die, Pizzazz Aplenty chocolate pearls

card 3

stamps - MFP Susans for Encouragement

papers - neenah kraft, black, pacific point, very vanilla, strip of dsp (unknown)

ink - versafine onyx black

accessories - MB precious hearts die lg & small, SU! framelit heart die, Hero Arts chevron ef

CAS-ual Fridays CFC87 - Make your Mark

I'm getting this card in just under the deadline for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC87 challenge to use markers. I used Copics to color the apple, and layered it on some red polka dot paper. I used 2 tag punches, and then a slot punch at the top to add ribbon and twine. The image and sentiment are by LawnFawn.

Make it a great day and as always, it's great to have you come by :)

Carol

CAS Sketch & a Round of Applause

Here's a card for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC85 - which is "a round of applause" for a celebration or occasion with at least one circle. I've also used the CAS(E) this sketch #10 by Lisa Arana. I saw a card similar to this on Pinterest and wanted to try the ribbon weaving for myself, so I used some narrow ribbons from my stash. The sentiment and circle are from the CAS-ual Friday's stamp set "woot woot." The inside will have a birthday sentiment.

Back to the laundry - I hope you're having a great day :)

Carol

Thank You!

The challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays CFC84 is to make a Thank-you card. I've had quite a few narrow strips of cardstock on my table for some time now, so I decided to put them to use on a card! I used an EK chain zig-zag punch on turquoise, plum, and pale plum cardstocks, and added 3 turquoise pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty just for fun. The sentiment is from the CAS-ual Fridays stamp set "Big Thanks."

Since the first card took practically no time at all to make, I made a 2nd one, this time adding shreds of cardstock curled around a toothpick just to add a festive and fun touch. I staggered the punched strips instead of nesting them for a bit of a different look, and added a sentiment from the same stamp set as above.

And for those who enjoy my friend Heidi's calendars, here's her brand new one for January. I could really use some warm wishes on this cold morning here in PA too! Brrrr!! Thanks Heidi - this is another calendar I'll treasure for years to come. You see, I print new calendar pages and glue them right over last years pages, so I can update and re-use these calendars for several years :) This is the 4th one I've received and I love them all Heidi! Big thank-you {{hugs}} if you're reading this my sweet friend :)

Thanks for dropping by, and now I'm headed to the living room to finish shampooing my carpets *groan*. It's NOT one of my favorite things to do, but somebody's gotta do it! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Carol

Little Card...BIG thanks

 Happy day after Christmas! I hope your holiday was special and you all enjoyed yourselves! Today I'm sharing a little set of gift cards I made for my neighbor. These are 3x3 cards, all made with 2 sets from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps that I was lucky enough to win! The main sentiment is from "Big Thanks" and that little swirl is from "Calm & Gentle." Each card is the same design but with different colors. I added a snippet of coordinating ribbon to each card, and stamped the swirl onto the envelopes too. The box was made from white cardstock, and I colored the stamped image on the sides with Copics. My neighbor loved them :)

Here's one in real red...

and here's one in Pacific Point. I can't seem to use enough of this color lately!

For those of you expecting heavy snowfall today - stay safe and warm! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Carol

Hugs and Kisses

Today's card is a good old red, white and blue card that's sweet, took less than 10 minutes to make and it's CAS. The image is a digi from Michelle Perkett, and I colored it with Copics, added stickles to the white "kiss" and layered it on a navy piece of cardstock that was outlined with a silver paint pen before cutting with a SB labels 18 die. I'm entering this into the following challenges :

OWH Stars and Stamps mid-week throwdown - red, white, and blue

Addicted to CAS ATCAS#3 - "sweet"

CAS-ual Fridays CFC83 - make a holiday themed card in less than 10 minutes

10 Minute Craft Dash#9 - make a holiday themed card in less than 10 minutes

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by during this busy time of the year! It's always so nice to see you here :)

Carol

I Love Chevrons!

I had some left-over scraps of a card I made recently, so I decided to make another card with them. This card is for the SimonSaysStamp challenge to use a favorite tool, stamp, or product. My favorites change frequently with all the fantastic stamping products out there today, but I'd have to say one of my favorites is the Hero Arts chevron embossing folder I've used here. I just can't seem to get enough chevrons these days. The flowers were done with a HA stamp set, fussy cut & popped up on foam tape, and the centers were colored with a black Spica glitter pen. The flourish was given to me by a friend (thanks M A) and for the final touch, I added some ribbon and a tiny tag with a black pearl and pink gemstone.

This card is for the CAS-ual Friday CFC82 challenge to "even the score", or in other words, add some scoring to your card. I stamped the HA image (chevrons again -yay!) and outlined it with a fine black marker just to give it a little more definition without adding a layer. I scored the red panel and added a computer generated sentiment and this card was finished! Both cards will go into my next OWH box.

I try to keep this blog about cardmaking and crafts, but I wanted to share my thoughts and offer prayers to those affected by the tragedy in Newton Connecticut. My heart is heavy for any parent who loses a child, but to lose so many innocent children - along with 6 adults - to a senseless act of violence is impossible to comprehend. There are no words I can offer that will bring comfort to anyone who's suffered such a heart-breaking loss, but I pray no one has to live through a tragedy like this again! May angels in heaven watch over everyone who was affected in any way with this evil act in Newton, and I pray for healing of those broken hearts that have been forever changed. I feel so incredibly sad for those who lost loved ones in such a horrible way and keep asking myself how can this keep happening again and again? We MUST do something to stop this!

Hug your loved ones a little bit tighter today, because you may not have the chance to do it tomorrow.


Carol

CAS-ual Fridays Knotty or Nice

The CAS-ual Fridays CFC81 challenge is to feature a knot or knots on your CAS card. I cut squares of SU! purple & green dsp and cut them in half diagonally and simply placed them in a pattern to look like a chevron. The sentiment was done in concord crush ink with a retired SU! sentiment from the Sketch It! stamp set. I added a button along with some natural twine, tied in a bow behind the button and knotted through the buttonholes. Quick, easy, and I like the bold chevron pattern!

That's going to do it for me for this day! I hope you're all enjoying a great weekend!

Carol

Time & Tags

Here's my card for this week's CASology #21 challenge which is "time." I'm also entering this card into Oozak's "anything goes + red challenge." The stamps I used are from Hero Arts and Unity, and I added some Washi tape and a red gemstone to the center of the clock face. I also added some scoring  for a little interest. This will be going into my next OWH box and they'll be easy to make in duplicate.

This tag is for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC80 challenge to make a gift tag. I used a tiny pine branch stamp from the SU! Lovely as a Tree set, and stamped a few branches. The sentiment was masked from the CAS-ual Fridays Woot Woot set, and done in early espresso ink. I needed a couple masculine tags, so I added some green, brown, and natural twine along with a brass eyelet. The card base is very vanilla and the images were colored with Tombow markers before stamping.

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a great Sunday!

Carol

CAS Winter Blues

My card today is for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC79 challenge "Winter Blues", and it's also for the brand new Addicted to CAS challenge #1 which is "Snow."
For my card I used a beautiful blue cardstock from GinaK along with a Memory Box Frostyville border die, and then embossed it with a CB snow ef. The sentiment panel was done with a SB grommet tag die and the silver sentiment and snowflakes are stickers.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

So Torn

The CAS-ual Fridays challenge CFC78 is to use something torn...

 I used the tree image and sentiment from CAS-ual Friday's "calm and gentle" set, along with a torn piece of mint green cardstock from Core-dinations. The flip side is black, which adds a touch of color on the torn edge to separate the grassy area from the white background. I used assorted colors of ink daubers (remember them?) to color the stamp before adding the leaves, and then I used Spica glitter pens to add a little more pop of color.

Thanks for taking a moment to stop by - it's always great to see you :) Make it a great day!

Carol

A CAS Sketch Card

Here's my card for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC77 challenge which is to create a masculine card. I also used the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge #4 for the design.

I was the extremely lucky person who won all 5 of the brand new CAS-ual Fridays stamp sets, so I used elements from 3 of those sets for this card. Those sets are the Big Thanks, Woot Woot, and Truth is, and I used Memento Danube Blue, Lady Bug, Tangelo, along with some Versafine onyx black inks. I added a black pearl to the centers and that was all this card needed.

I hope you're enjoying that extra hour of sleep, and here in SE PA we finally have some brilliant sunshine after such a dismal week. There's nothing that  compares to waking up with bright sunshine! Have a great Sunday!

Carol

CFC76 Kraft

Here's my card for the CFC76 CAS-ual Fridays challenge to get your "kraft on." I used a Simon Says Stamp star border die (that I won!) to make the blue and kraft panels. I trimmed the kraft panel down to one row, and added red, white, and blue stars for some contrast. The red dsp is from BoBunny, and the navy layer has no stars inserted in the star shapes, that's the white card stock showing through. The sentiment is by Unity and was stamped with night of navy ink, and the narrow ribbon is from my stash.

This will be my last post until hurricane Sandy has left the east coast. I'll be shutting my computer down as the storm worsens throughout the day, and it appears likely that we'll lose power along with millions of other folks in Sandy's path. I'll catch up with commenting and visiting your blogs as soon as I'm able to get back on line!

Take care everyone, and stay safe!!!

Carol

A Triple Play Challenge Card

It isn't often when I'm able to combine 3 great challenges into one card, but I managed to do it today! I used the colors of the DynamicDuo25 of pumpkin pie & black (with a dessert option of die cuts), the sketch from CAS(E) this sketch #2, and the CAS-ual Fridays CFC75 challenge to "go over the edge." I used a flower image from SU! Fifth Avenue Florals, and stamped it on pumpkin pie, then embossed it with clear ep and hand cut it. I layered it on 2 Sizzix stem die cuts and added some black pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty to the center. The sentiment is from MFP, and the card base is PTI white.

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks so much for stopping by!

ETA: OOPS! the CAS(E) this sketch links closed yesterday, so I won't be able to enter this there! :)

Carol