Happy 2014! Dynamic Duos #85

All the best to you, my crafty friends!

A new month, a new year and a new challenge from the Dynamic Duos:

Usually, the first crafting I do after Christmas is to whip up a bunch of 'thank-you' cards. If I leave them prominently displayed on the dining table, with sticky notes indicating to whom they are addressed, my kids are pretty good by now at writing their thanks before they head back to school.

The bold and cheery colours made for some bright and cheery cards!

I used CTMH colours HONEY and the retired colour GARDEN GREEN, along with some Christmas gifts from my family. 

 I told them I'd welcome ANYTHING from my LSS, Heather's Stamping Haven. Be careful what you wish for! I received some fun, beautiful and intriguing cling and rubber stamps (I am a tried-and-true clear acrylic stamp lover). Not at all good at lining up the non-clear type. However, I had fun making random tone-on-tone patterns with the challenge colours. Also inspired by this card from Karen Baker.

I made an alternate version, reversing the colours and using a different border die and epoxy bubbles. Decided I liked the first version better.

As I write MY thank-yous, I'm sending you off to see the always inspiring creations from the rest of the Dynamic Duos design team.

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Caroline Bredeson

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Hope you'll find time to play along and link up your project this week!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Card Recipe:

Cardstock in Colonial White, Olive, Honey

Ink in Honey and Garden Green

Stamps: Magenta, Judikins, Lil'Inker Darling Diamonds stamp set 

Basic Grey candy dots; Close to My Heart epoxy bubbles; Michael's jute twine.

Corner rounder

Border die: The Stamps of Life Big border dies 

Resolution #1--Organize Card-Giving

Hey there, crafty friends.

So, earlier this week I learned that I had won a free spot in a 6-week card class by Kim Kesti (one of my fave Paper Smooches designers), through Big Picture Classes.

THANK YOU, KIM!

Yay for unexpected surprises, and Yay!for the topic of the class: Create and Share Cardmaking.

There are tips for organizing your cards to make the ones you need and make sure they get sent on time, as well as bi-weekly lessons for themed cards, with fun techniques, videos, & guest-designers.

Enrollment is still open--use the link above to check it out!

Here are some cards from the first lesson:

Experimenting with the blackboard technique

Inside of first card

 I didn't have any poster/subway birthday-themed stamps, so created one by assembling some from different stamp sets, placing them all on a 2.5" square block:

Here's a second card, stamping on GREY cardstock:

 The third card features a gift-card pocket.

Added a piece of washi tape to the gift card for easy removal

I don't have a gift-card pocket die, but created a pocket using a piece of cardstock 4.25" x 5", scored and trimmed as follows:

The last card is a clean and graphic beauty, featuring a simple corner-rounder and black glitter paper.

So, consider getting your 2014 card-making off to a productive start. Check out the Create & Share Workshop for a fun and inspirational time!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

 Supplies:
Details available on request!

Merry Christmas to All! Atlantic Hearts Sketch #35

 Best Christmas wishes to all my crafty friends!

Crazy day to be posting (needless to say, this one was pre-scheduled), but there IS a sketch challenge out there for you this week, from Atlantic Hearts:

You have until Sunday night to link up, so maybe a little crafting time will be available later in the week...

Here's my card:

I took a little more freedom than usual with the sketch. The stamps and dies for the cup full of cocoa are a long-time ago gift from my sister, from Papertrey Ink. I used the silver washi tape from the CTMH Sparkle and Shine pack as the horizontal element and the candy-cane stripe paper from the same pack as the background. The sentiment was stamped on vellum--something I've been seeing out in the blog-o-sphere, which allows you to still see the image underneath, but still add detail.

The red glitter accents were cut from the CTMH red glitter tape, with a simple hole punch!

Another look:

So sweet friends, enjoy your day, and see you in blog-land!

Happy Christmas,

Caroline

Wishing you Joy! Dynamic Duos #84

Happy Saturday, everyone.

If you're like me, this day will be crammed full of final holiday preparations, shopping, baking, wrapping, get-togethers with friends, snow-shovelling...

Card-making has finally taken a back-seat!

We hope you will play along with this week's Dynamic Duo's challenge, however. Check the blog, but I think you will have two weeks to participate.

It's "Black Tie" week, and the companion colour is a rich red.

I've been seeing the chalkboard technique done with a red background, out on the web.
This link and this image, for instance.

The poster-style stamp I wanted to use actually stamps the background colour, leaving the lettering white, so I couldn't add that rubbed white look. I chose to add some distressing in other ways, trying for a more shabby chic style.

I stamped the focal panel on a long strip of cardstock and scrolled the ends. The black background was inked white on the edges, and the top edge has some Rock Candy Distress glitter, for the "sparkle" option of this week's challenge. The doily and big loopy bow add more texture. The final touch, some sequins from Neat & Tangled's Classic Christmas assortment.

This will definitely be one of those cards you have to hand deliver...

Check out the awesome creations by the other designers:

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Hope you'll find time to play along! 

Happy crafting and Happy Christmas!

Caroline

Sparkle and Shine! Color My Heart #74

Hello Crafty Friends!

Well, the countdown is really on...just five more days until Christmas. Yikes!

Still a few more things to get organized here, plus constant grocery shopping! Our two sons who are away at school are back home for the holidays :) plus the third son's girlfriend is spending Christmas with us. Wonderful to have a full house, but they are eating me out of house and home. No complaints!

So, one more chance to break out some traditional Christmas colours for Color My Heart's dare #74,

RUBY & JUNIPER

These are the principle colours in this year's Christmas paper pack, from Close to My Heart, Sparkle and Shine.

There is a coordinating pack of washi tape available, too and we had fun making cards with it at the Rehabilitation Centre where I volunteer in the Recreation Therapy department,  a couple of weeks ago.

This card is a variation on that idea. I started by laying strips of washi tape and DP onto a scrap of cardstock, then cut my tree shape from that.

The other two trees are cut from Juniper and Slate cardstock, then emobssed, inked and sanded. I used Paper Smooches' Border Die #1 for the snowbank and a greeting from last years' SOTM set.

Some more washi tape for the tree trunks, a few seasonal sequins from Neat & Tangled, and DONE!

☃☃☃☃☃

Off you go to Color My Heart to see some beautiful creations by the Design Team. Then show us your last minute crafting, using Ruby and Juniper (or your own close colours). You can link up to this challenge until noon next Thursday (Boxing Day, here in Canada).

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock in White Daisy, Slate, Juniper, Sparkle & Shine DP; black textured cardstock from Wausau Papers.

Silver glitter paper and Fiskars star punch 

Corner rounder

CTMH stamp of the month S1012

Washi tape: Z1907 Sparkle and Shine assortment; woodgrain washi, Paper Wishes

Paper Smooches border dies #1 

Provocraft and Sizzix embossing folders

 

Sweet and Subtle--Dynamic Duos #83

Happy Saturday morning, Dynamic Duos fans!

Think of me WARMLY this morning--as you read this, I'll be out caroling with my choir, in -17°C weather...

Here's the challenge for this week, from Dynamic Duos:

I have to admit, I find these "Subtly Yours" weeks the most challenging. I am drawn to more vibrant colours and contrasts, but hey, that's what challenges are all about, right?

I broke out my new Modern Mehndi stamps and dies from Lil'Inker:

Don't they remind you of those Mandala black-velvet posters that were popular in the 70's? I could colour those things for hours...

Anyway,  I was also inspired by some little note cards by Jen Shults, HERE, to create these:

 I inked each image with Memento Rich Cocoa, then used Copic markers in shades of the challenge colours to colour them in. The cards were cut from kraft paper at 3" using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, with a smaller white square inside, for writing.

Here's a closer look at each one:

I used some of the accompanying images on the card bases, to give that henna look.

My fave is this one.

This next one almost looks like paisley. Might have over-done the background stamping.

Card sets are a great Christmas gift idea! 

Check out the Dynamic Duos blog for more wonderful inspiration from the Design Team:

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

We'd love to see YOUR creations! Here's how to participate:

RULES & FAQs

Happy crafting,

Caroline 

Card Recipe:

Cardstock in Kraft and White Daisy

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, CTMH Saddle

Copic Markers: B0000, BG10, BG72, BG75, E50, E33, E35 , Y26

Stamps and dies: Lil'Inker-- Modern Mehndi 

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (CTMH)

Jute twine

Cocoa ribbon

Foam tape

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #33--Lookin' Good!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Don't you just love a sketch, when you need a card in a hurry? 

This new one from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge saved my bacon.

I needed a quick birthday card for my dapper brother-in-law.

Some retired CTMH paper, a border punch & a couple of dies, the great Puns of Praise stamp set, and I was all set.

Here's another view:

I love colouring outline stamps with alcohol markers! So easy to achieve shading and dimension. I added Liquid Glass to the lens of the magnifying glass to make it look glassy.
I used the new M-size stamp Heartfelt Birthday Wish on the inside and shaded it to match the magnifying glass.

Head on over to Atlantic Hearts to grab the sketch.
Design team interpretations are posted on Wednesday; you have until midnight Sunday to link up your take on this week's sketch. Can't wait to see how you use it!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: CTMH Cruisin' (retired); White Daisy. Black textured cardstock from Wausau Paper.

Martha Stewart border punch

The Twinery: Ocean baker's twine

Puns of Praise stamp set:

Heartfelt Birthday Wishes stamp set: M1033

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Copic Markers

Nestabilities: circle dies

Simon Says Stamp: tilted border dies