CAS(E) this Sketch #245 - Happy Halloween

I love spooky cute Halloween characters, and I make a card or two every year using my favorite Halloween stamp set. I've been using these character stamps for the past 5 years!

My design inspiration is Donna's Retro Sketch for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch (#245):

I attached a mini action wobble to the back of the mummy, so he wobbles when you flick his foot.

 
I didn't have a Halloween sentiment stamp of the right size, so I created a sentiment using MS Word (font: Aprillia Script) and printed it on the cardstock. 


I'm linking up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes), too.

Thanks for looking!


Stamp: Googly Ghouls (Stampin' Up!), Halftone Circles (Altenew)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit, Lucky Limeade (Stampin' Up!), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Mini Action Wobbles (Hampton Art)

Halloween Treat Box

Halloween is coming soon, so I made these treat boxes for my friend's kids this weekend.

[Front]

[Side]

[Back] with their names in a little spooky layout

I hope they'll like the treats!


Stamp: A Little Something (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Summer Starfruit, Lucky Limeade, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Baker's Box Thinlits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Pumpkin Boarder Die (Impression Obsession), Trick or Treaters Dies (Memory Box), Die-namics Spooky Scene (My Favorite Things), Inline Alpha Die (Altenew), Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up!), In Color Painted Clothespins (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) this Sketch #244 - hello

I was checking out one of my favorite sites, Design Seeds, and I saw this image.

I realized I'd never used purple with brown & orange in my cards, so I wanted to use the color combination and make something.
Here's what I made:

My design inspiration is from the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

I wove the front diamond panel with strips of cardstock to add visual interest. The base panel was lightly brushed with Distress Oxide Ink, and the two diamond panels were raised with foam tape.

I'm happy I got to play with the design using the new color combo!

Thanks for visiting!


Paper: Whisper White, Tip Top Taupe, Peekaboo Peach (Stampin' Up!), Grapesicle (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Distress Oxide Ink (Ranger - Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves)
Accessories: Greetings Thinlits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Die-namics Tag Builder Blueprints 4 (My Favorite Things), Clarity Stencil Brushes (Claritystamps), Foam Tape (3M)

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge - always kind & always giving

When I saw my card I made last week in the CAS Watercolour October Challenge Gallery, my fall leaves looked a bit greener than I thought. So I wanted to make another card using warmer colors.

I might have gone overboard this time and lost some CAS-ness, but it was a good opportunity to use the watercolour wash technique I learned at the CAS Mix Up Challenge last month. (I heat-embossed the leave images in clear, and painted the graded wash.)

The color contrast between the dark brown frame and the white square panel was quite stark for the watercolor background, so I layered a piece of vellum over the white panel to soften the contrast.

The sentiment was heat-embossed on the vellum.

CAS Watercolour Challenge's celebrating their 1st Birthday this month! 
Happy birthday again to Bonnie, Loll, Design Team, and the guest designers for the year!

Thanks for looking!


Stamp: Vintage Leaves, Me = Grateful (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Canson Watercolor Paper (140 lb), Early Espresso, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Translucent Vellum (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Gansai Tambi Watercolor Paints (Kuretake - Red Ocher, Vermilion, Golden Yellow, Grass Green, Azurite), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Embossing Powder (Wow! - Gold Rich Pale), Stitched Rectangles Dies (Simon Says Stamp), Die-namics Stitched Square STAX (My Favorite Things), Square Collection Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) this Sketch #243 - merry

I made another holiday card using the sketch for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch (#243).

Here's Donna's modern-esque sketch:

I turned the sketch 90 degrees.

While making this card, I was reminded of the importance of going beyond your first thought (thinking out-of-the-box). 
This is what I mean:
The first half of the card-making process was easy and smooth. I used the embossing folder for the background, made my own holiday stripe strip using the background stamp, and die-cut the sentiment. Then I was at a loss what to do with the rectangular space on the left side... I tried matching it with different colors of cardstock, but nothing seemed to click. So I took out several kinds of vellum sheets. OK, the vellum with gold squares seemed to match well.
I didn't want to add anything else to the space because the space already looked busy with the patterned vellum, the red enamel dot, and the fact that it was right next to the red stripes. But something was still missing. I ran out of time, and I literally slept on it. I'm sure you all have this kind of experience. 😉
The next morning with a fresh mind, I started thinking about adding something to the space even though it was not my first instinct. Well, the pine needle die-cuts actually fit. That space is busy but somehow it looks better with the pine needles.
You never know until you actually try it out and look at it - a good reminder for me. It's not always easy, but I enjoy this process!

Thanks for visiting!


Stamp: Diagonal Stripes Background (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green (Stampin' Up!), Patterned Vellum (Recollections)
Ink: Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Grid Embossing Folder (Spellbinders), Expressions Thinlits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Take a Bough Dies (Concord & 9th), Home for Christmas Enamel Dots (Stampin' Up!)

CAS Mix Up Challenge - so grateful for you

This is my second card for the CAS Mix Up October Challenge!

 The challenge banner is:

 
This time I wanted to make something simpler and less busy than my first card for a change. I used Watercolor Paper instead of Bristol Paper. I liked the texture for stenciling, and the water droplets worked well on the watercolor paper.

   
I used stamping, layering two kinds of border stencils, and heat-embossing.

Thanks for your visit!


Stamp: Many Thanks (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Watercolor Paper (Canson - 140 lb), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Oxide Ink (Ranger - Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral), Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Stencil Drifts & Hills (My Favorite Things), Stitched Rectangles Wafer Dies (Simon Says Stamp), Embossing Powder (Ranger - Liquid Platinum)

CAS(E) this Sketch #242 - thinking of you at christmas

I made a quick card today for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #242.

Here's Leigh's pretty sketch.

I used a Clarity brush for the first time to stencil the circle. As I heard in a lot of good reviews, it was amazing! I often had a problem with ink applicator marks, especially when I stencil this kind of open flat space, but with this brush you don't get any marks. It's a life saver for me.

I curved the sentiment stamp to match the swish strip and then stamped it with the help of Misti. Photopolymer stamps are flexible, so you can do this easily


I'm linking up this card to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Thinking of you).

Thanks for the visit!


Stamp: White Christmas (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!), Patterned Vellum (Recollections)
Ink: Distress Oxide Ink (Ranger - Broken China), Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Cut and Emboss (Recollections), Die-namics Stitched Basic Edges 2 (My Favorite Things), Circle Punch (Fiskars - 1/4", 1/8"), Circles Collection Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Stencil Brush (Claritystamps) Glossy Accents (Ranger)

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge - hello

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge is celebrating their 1st birthday. 
Happy happy 1st birthday to the wonderful hosts, Bonnie and Loll, the inspiring Design Team, and the guest designers for the year!

I always appreciate their dedication to the challenge - organizing a fun and stimulating challenge every month, sharing with us their inspiring cards twice a month or more, and writing sweet and encouraging comments on entries, etc.
It takes me almost a whole weekend just to make a card or two, take pictures of them, and write posts (even though I enjoy doing it). So I can't imagine how much time and energy they spend on running the challenge. 
Thank you so much for your wonderful work, Loll, Bonnie, Nancy, Susan, Karen, and Christine! 


Here's a card I made for the CAS Watercolour October Challenge today.

The challenge theme is fall leaves.

When I looked at Susan's beautiful card on the challenge site, I thought I wanted to try the technique she used -  dabbing inks onto the stamps, then spritzing with water before stamping onto watercolour paper. Thank you, Susan, for the inspiration!
I really liked how the impressions turned out. Dabbing inks and spritzing water before stamping added more interest and depth to the impressions.
 

I used the Pop-Up Die Cutting technique (I don't know what it's officially called.) for the sentiment. I die cut the sentiment from the stamped watercolor paper, and also die cut 4 sentiments from dark brown cardstock. I layered the 4 brown sentiments under the watercolor one, and popped it back onto the open sentiment space.

Thanks for dropping by!


Stamp: French Foliage (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Canson Watercolor Paper (140 lb), Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Ink (Ranger - Fossilized Amber, Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn, Blueprint Sketch)
Accessories: Die-namics A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things), Hello Honey Cuts (Honey Bee Stamps), Perfect Pearls (Ranger - Copper, Bronze)