3/22/2018

CAS Watercolour March Challenge - have a great day

I made a card for the CAS Watercolour Challenge.
This month's challenge theme is Garden.





First, I stamped the images and the sentiment with brown pigment ink, and clear heat-embossed them. I put a DIY post-it mask for the water pitcher and the bird.
Then I watercolored the images and the shadows using Zig real brush markers.
The background looked a little sterile for a garden, so I spattered perfect pearls (a mix of regular perfect pearls and rose). Finally I die-cut the front panel and popped it up with foam tape.

Well, there were a few preparations behind the scene and I'm sure you all have experienced this:
This was my first time to use this stamp set and there are 24 images (!) and 6 sentiments in the set. So I stamped all images and fussy-cut the images. Then I decided which images I'm going to use while figuring out the placement on a A4 card base. Finally I practiced coloring some of the images.







I want to play with the other garden pieces sometime again soon.

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamp: Garden Grow (Altenew), Friends (Hero Arts)
Paper: Watercolour Paper (140 lb. Hot Press - Arches)

Ink:
Memento Luxe (Rich Cocoa - Tsukineko), Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Kuretake)
Accessories: Antique Frame Dies (Penny Black
), Embossing Powder (Clear - Hero Arts), Perfect Pearls (Perfect Pearl, Rose - Ranger), Foam Tape (3M)

3/18/2018

CAS Mix Up March Challenge - celebrate

I've been having a great time making Alcohol Ink acetate backgrounds and I made another simple card using one of the backgrounds. Thanks, Susan, for hosting a fun challenge this month!




This time I die-cut a mum flower from a piece of acetate colored with shades of yellow and red Alcohol Inks. I trimmed it into a square and stamped the sentiment in Champagne pigment ink. I smeared the same stamp pad over the rim of a piece of white square cardstock and layered it under the AI acetate panel as a mat. The whole square piece was raised with foam tape.


I used Acetate + Stamping + Die-cutting for my card.



Check out the challenge blog. You'll be amazed by the wonderful creations of the CAS Mix Up Design Team and the fabulous entries in the gallery!


Stamp: Thoughtful Banners (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:
Encore Ultimate Metallic Ink (Champagne - Tsukineko), Alcohol Ink (Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, Flamingo, Watermelon, Cranberry - Ranger)
Accessories:Dies (Mum Flower Frame - Simon Says Stamp)

3/17/2018

CAS Christmas Card March Challenge - season's greetings

It's a time for our March CAS Christmas Card reminder. There's still (just over) a week left to play before it closes on 24th.

This month's challenge theme is Holly.




Here's my card for today:



I used the same dies I used for the first holly card I made earlier this month and made DIY masks from Post-it notes. (see the pic below)



 
I sponged with distress inks, heat-embossed the sentiment, and finished it off with a few sequins.

I saw Loll (Stamping with Loll)'s card last month, and it inspired me to use Spun Sugar and Milled Lavender. These two colors are so light that I didn't know when to use them. If I hadn't seen her card, those inks would have never seen the light. Thank you so much for your inspiration, Loll!



Please check out the challenge reminder post to see more inspiration from our wonderful Design Team!





Stamp: Snow Swirled (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Bristol Paper (100 lb. - Strathmore)

Ink: Distress Ink (Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender - Ranger),
VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories:
Modern Christmas Dies (Ellen Hutson), Sequins (Clear Mix - Pretty Pink Posh), Post-it Notes (Full Adhesive - 3M)


3/11/2018

CAS Mix Up March Challenge - thanks so much

Two years ago, Loll Thomson and Bonnie Klass started this wonderful card challenge, CAS Mix Up. Happy 2nd Birthday, Loll, Bonnie, and the Design Team!! I can't express my gratitude enough for their wonderful work because I get a LOT of fun out of the challenge every month.



Susan is hosting the March challenge, Acetate, and provided us a lot of great tutorial video links in the challenge blog.



Here's my card:


I used Acetate + Stamping + Die-cutting.


First, I made this rainbow color acetate sheet using Alcohol Inks. 
I just dropped the inks horizontally on a piece of acetate sheet and trimmed it.


Then I die-cut the sentiment 3 times from the white panel, stamped "so much",  and layered the panel over the AI acetate sheet.


I loved the vibrant colors of AI, but then my curiosity was telling me that I should try it with lighter and softer AI colors and see how they look. So I did. 😉


I didn't use any stamp for this card, so I won't enter it into the challenge, but I really liked the results - actually I like this card better than my first card.
I dropped the AIs on a piece of acetate sheet at random.
I layered the 3 die-cut sentiments (the positive parts) from the first card and used them for this card. I'm glad I didn't have to waste them.


Thanks for visiting me today!

[First Card]
Stamp: Crazy about You (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:
Night of Navy
(Stampin' Up!), Alcohol Ink (Poppy Field, Sunshine Yellow, Citrus, Botanical, Turquoise, Indigo, Purple Twilight - Ranger)
Accessories: Die-namics Many Thanks (My Favorite Things)


[Second Card]
Paper: Whisper White, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:
Alcohol Ink (Sandal, Salmon, Citrus, Aqua, Raspberry - Ranger)
Accessories:
Die-namics Many Thanks, Single Stitch Line Rectangle Frames (My Favorite Things)

3/03/2018

CAS Christmas Card March Challenge - merry christmas

Today is the day - the launch of the CAS Christmas Card Challenge!
This is my first time to be on a Design Team and I'm so thrilled! 😊

I'm also excited to get to make clean and simple Christmas cards every month with a different theme and build my stash before December. Isn't it a wonderful system? Play along with us through the year and have fun! I promise it'll help you ease the busy-ness of making Christmas cards at the last minute.

So, the challenge for the starting month, March, is Holly.



Here's my card:



I played with the colors and used brighter colors than for real holly.
I stamped the leaves and the berries on white cardstock, die-cut them, and pasted them on the card base. I stamped the sentiment with silver pigment ink on the back (smooth) side of the specialty paper. Then I cut it into a strip, layered sliver foil paper underneath, and raised it with foam tape.
I brushed Wink of Stella over the berries as a finishing touch. It's very simple and easy to make!


 
Come and check out the inspiring cards by the Design Team, and I hope to see you in the gallery!





Stamp: Modern Christmas (Ellen Hutson)
Paper: Woodgrain (White - Altenew), Whisper White, Silver Foil Sheet (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:
Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!), Encore Ultimate Metallic (Silver - Tsukineko)
Accessories:
Modern Christmas Dies (Ellen Hutson), Wink of Stella (Clear - Kuretake), Foam Tape (3M)