Celebrating...

First up, the first birthday of Fresh Squeezed Stamps!

Ryann and Shannon are challenging their fans to create a NEW birthday card, and link it to their blog, for the chance to win a Sa-weet new stamp set.

As October 4th is my sister's birthday, and as my life has been pretty chaotic lately (moving kids, moving house, packing then unpacking my crafting supplies...) I haven't had the chance to make a card yet, let alone send it to the Netherlands. So, here ya go, Morag, Happy Birthday! You'll see it here, first!

I used the fabulous "On Trend 2013" stamp set, which I was lucky enough to win earlier this year.

I masked off a heart/harvest moon with Eclipse paper, and sponged on a sunset. The sequins in the set made some dandy stars. The water lines were done with Versamark pen. I LOVE that skyline with the subtle little heart...

Not to waste all that ink, I used the mask for the greeting on the inside of the card:

Off to link up to Fresh Squeezed Stamps!

If you'd like to join the Birthday Bash, you have until 6:00 pm Friday to create a birthday card to share.

*****

Come back tomorrow, October 5th for another milestone:

I'm celebrating the second anniversary of my blog by participating in Operation Write Home's World Card Making Blog Hop. It's going to be STUPENDOUS! And you just might win a little something-something if you leave a nice comment...

Happy Crafting,

Caroline

Supplies Used:

CTMH inks in Sorbet, Pear, Twilight, Outdoor Denim and Black

Versamark Inkpad and pen

Clear embossing powder

Tim Holtz sponging tool

Eclipse printable sheets

Sizzix heart die

Fresh Squeezed Stamps' "On Trend 2013" stamp set

Ombre goes "green"

I am loving messing around with this OMBRE effect!  

Here is another card, which I will be linking to the Heart2Heart challenge this week: Go Green. 

My project IS green. Very green. And it uses one of my favorite re-purposed items, the corrugated coffee sleeve...

This sophisticated St. Patrick's Day card features a cascade of leaves from the "Harvest Happiness" stamp set (CTMH), heat-embossed in white (plus a sneaky shamrock). Then from the bottom up, I layered New England Ivy, Olive, Topiary and finally Sweet Leaf. I love the suede effect produced by sponging on the colour! 

The shamrock is cut using a Sizzix die. I tried stamping the sentiment from  Paper Smooches' "A Magical Spring" onto CTMH's Color-Ready Seam Binding ribbon, but it bled quite a bit, so I added a slip of paper on top of the ribbon banner.

I'm so pleased with how this one turned out!

Go check out the other submissions this week at Heart2Heart. They are celebrating March Madness, with a new theme every week, and some prizes at the end of the month.
I'm also linking this baby up to the Moxie Fab World Ombre challenge, on through April 1st.

Happy SPONGING!

Caroline