Birthday Boy

My son's birthday is coming up, and he's been overseas for some years now, so I wanted to make a card that evoked home. I used CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge #210 as a starter:

I've experimented with a couple of things on this card. First, I'm very tentatively trying Copic markers, so used these on the vertical panel. Second, I tried embossing over black stamped images - I didn't want a totally embossed image, but a kind of fill in look. I'm pleased with the results.

The images themselves are New Zealand flora: a ponga koru (the ponga fern is the source of our national symbol, the silver fern, and the koru, or spiral shape has many meanings, among them harmony and new life); the pohutukawa tree (about which I've previously posted) and a kowhai (pronounced caw-fie) blossom. The last will remind my son, I hope, of his sister - they both got a two-blossom kowhai tattoo to represent their relationship before he left.
Made using:
Paper: Stampin' Up's Whisper White, Pacific Point. Kraft paper also - can't remember whose.
Ink: Stampin' Up's Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black, Real Red.
Embossing: Stampin' Up Gold and Real Red, American Crafts Green Glitter Finish.
Stamps: Stampin' Up Sassy Salutations and Crazy about You (both for sentiments) and craft creations Kiwiana Christmas stamps.
Other - Copic Markers: Robin's Egg Blue, Process Blue and Lapis Lazuli.; washi tape which may be Stampin' Up but I'm not sure.

CAS trees- totally!

Challenge PP331 from The Paper Players was a very subtle and beautiful colour challenge, with a photo of the most gorgeously restrained interior design as a further inspiration.

Like the challenge's designer, Nance, I was struck by the fresh, clean lines of the room and wanted to make a card with the same feel. This meant that I kept on wondering about additions and then deciding against them. The end result is very CAS indeed:

Made using: Stampin' Up products: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Copper foil papers; Copper embossing powder, Totally Trees and Sheltering Tree (sentiment) stamp sets, 

Balloon Congratulations

The lovely crisp colours of Global Design Project's GDP#073:

 leant themselves to a crisp, simple design. I found such a design in CAS(E) this Sketch's #208:

I absolutely love the clouds in Stampin' Up's Lift Me Up stamp set, so took the cloud in the sketch literally. I returned to an old favourite, Balloon Celebration, for the balloons, and used a New Zealand koru pattern to emboss. I ended up sponging ink onto white card for the balloons to get the right depth of colour, and I heat embossed the sentiment in black just to add an extra crispness. 

Made Using:
Stampin' Up: Whisper White and Basic Black Paper: Lift Me Up and Balloon Celebration stamp sets, baker's twine, Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight and Emerald Envy inks.
Craft Creations: New Zealand koru embossing folder
American Crafts: Black glitter finish embossing powder.

Simple Thanks

For this card, I combined the colour wheel challenge of Less is More's 6th birthday Challenge  and the sketch of Freshly Made Sketch's FMS273. I chose a simply repetition to emphasise the graduated colours and used new (to me) product - Stampin' Up's blender brush - to graduate the colours within each flower.

Made using:
Stampin' Up: Very Vanilla Paper, Bloomin' Love Stamp, Crazy About You stamp (sentiment).
Also used Faber Castell watercolour pencils and Francheville pearls.

Balloon Sunset

I used the opportunity of the double challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches (#208) to have my first play withe the Stampin; Up 'Lift Me Up' stamps and 'Up & Away' dies. Fun! I've rotated the sketch and been a little liberal in my interpretation - hope that's okay. I also had to go with the closest colours I have, since my card habit post

dates the colours in the sketch.


Made using
Stampin; Up 'Lift Me Up' stamps and 'Up & Away' dies; Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango and Peekaboo Peach papers; Mint Macaron and Tangerine Tango Ink,

Motorbike Valentine

I sat down at my card table absolutely determined to find a challenge that would enable me to use the 'One Wild Ride' stamp set to make a Valentine's Day card for my motorbike-loving husband - something kind of manly but still a little romantic. I found my inspiration in Stamp, Ink, Paper's Challenge 84: a tic tac toe grid from which I selected red, baker's twine and a circular element.

I'm pleased with the result, but it's extremely hard to photograph - I embossed the bike and xoxo in copper, made the circle from copper foil and used red glimmer paper for the hearts. In 'real life' the copper is quite subtle and the red stands out.
On the inside, I amused myself by combining a very girly, flourishy sentiment with motorbike tracks and a smudged edge in Chocolate chip. A final touch was a motorbike on the envelope.
I hope he likes it!

Made using:
Stampin' Up stamps: One Wild Ride, Bloomin' Love, Beautiful Ride (for the 'action' lines.
Stampin' Up paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, copper oil
Other products: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip ink, copper embossing powder and heart border punch, Rosie's baker's twine, red glimmer paper (maker unknown).

Love Weddings!

It's a while since I've been to a wedding - I think I'm between generations, so to speak. But I'm sure this card will end up being used, and anyway, it was a lot of fun to make.
My inspiration for the card was three challenges: Fab Friday's Challenge #104, which asked me to use the colours Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Sky and Very Vanilla; CAS(E) this Sketch's Challenge #205, using this sketch:

and Less is More's Theme Challenge #312, 'New Beginnings'. 

I loved the colours, finding them relaxing to work with, The sketch was... well, challenging, but I resolved that tricky sentiment issue by using a double layered die cut from a set I love, First Edition Craft's Heart Dies. I also revisited the lace stamp from Grateful Bunch, finding it much easier this second time to work with (so all those attempts last time weren't wasted!).

Made Using: 

Stampin' Up: Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Sky and Very Vanilla paper, Soft Sky and Sweet Sugarplum Ink, Grateful Bunch and Shake and Celebrate Stamp sets.

Other products:  First Edition Craft's Heart Dies, Francheville Rhinestones, Kaisercraft Stitched Borders and Rosie's 'Thanks a Bunch' flowers on the inside.