Love Bird

Another fabulous and sunny day here!  Heading out to spend the day with my mom ... but before leaving, had to particpate in CAS-ual Fridays challenge today - birds.  Since it's the same challenge as yesterday's SCS - Ways to Use it ... I'm going to enter this card for both challenges.  Hope you like.

"Love Bird"

Stamps:  Love Bug (Fiskars)
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise polka-dot DP (SU!)
Ink:  StazOn black; Stampin' Write markers: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Certainly Celery (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  1/4" Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, heart punches, adhesives, and sticky strips

Simple and easy card that didn't take very long to make.  Stamped the image with Staz-On black - just love the crispness of this ink.  Colored the image with Stampin' Write markers and outlined the stem with Certainly Celery.  Added the polka-dot strip, ribbon and hearts punched from Real Red cardstock.  The inside panel is Whisper White with a matching strip of polka-dot DP at the bottom and Daffodil Delight wrapped around (without the knot).

Beautiful Bird

Another beautiful day here on the westcoast.  The sun is shining, it's fairly warm and there's a nice breeze - the perfect spring day.  I'm heading out to my greenhouse to pot up the flowers I bought yesterday.  But before heading outside, I wanted to participate in today's "Ways To Use It" challenge at SCS (WT374 - For the birds!!).  I don't make many cards with birds ... don't know why ... just don't.  So it was a little bit of a challenge for me.  I used a stamp set that I bought around Christmas time last year.  It's actually a Christmas stamp set called "Beautiful Season" and I used just the bird from the set (hence the name of today's card - Beautiful Bird).  I wasn't implying that my bird was beautiful, just that's the name of the stamp :)

I'm pretty happy with how the bird turned out, but not sure that it shows up enough on the background I've chosen.  I used the plaid paper that was still sitting on my work table from yesterday - I just love this DP ... but the bird seems to get a little lost.  I tried to make him stand out more by adding depth to the leaves he's sitting on and also popping him up with dimensionals.  Hope you like.

"Beautiful Bird"

Stamps:  Beautiful Season, Just Believe - sentiment (SU!)
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream, watercolor paper (SU!); Generations DP (Simple Stories)
Ink:  StazOn Black, Sahara Sand, River Rock, Always Artichoke (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Blender pen, Little Leaves die-cut (Sizzix), mat pack, stylus, Square Lattice embossing folder (Sizzix), Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, pewter brads, glue, adhesives, sticky strips, and dimensionals

I stamped the bird onto watercolor paper and colored with Stampin' Write markers and a blender pen and then cut it out.  I ran the Little Leaves die-cut through my Big Shot twice with Always Artichoke cardstock.  I then sponged more Always Artichoke ink over the leaves and used my mat pack and stylus to form the leaves, pushing the stylus along the center of each leaf (to create a "vein" and rounding the leaves).

I cut a small piece of Confetti Cream cardstock, sponged with Always Artichoke ink, embossed with the square lattice folder and then framed with Chocolate Chip cardstock.  I used a scrap of the same paper for the sentiment, also sponged the edges and mounted onto a Chocolate Chip modern label, adding a pewter brad at each end.

I mounted all the pieces as shown in the photo, popping up the main panel and bird on dimensionals to add depth.

For the inside, I used a Confetti Cream panel with a small strip of Chocolate Chip-framed plaid at the bottom.

Masked Grasses and Vintage Simply Soft

Had a busy day ... picking up gifts for my mom and MIL for this coming Sunday.  My mother had her deck rebuilt a couple of years ago, but hasn't used it much because it is so open.  A few days ago, she spotted some lovely, potted narrow cedars and mentioned them to me this morning.  Gord and I were planning on heading to the nursery to pick up hanging baskets for both moms, but we decided to go and pick up the cedars for my mom ... she now has a small, natural screen on her deck so she can enjoy sitting outside without feeling like she's on display.  After dropping off the cedars, we headed to the nursery and picked up a pretty hanging basket for my MIL ... and some geraniums, bacopa and lobelia for my pots for my back deck.  I'm sure I'll be making a few more trips to the nursery, but I have a few things now to keep me occupied for the next few days.  I just love this time of year ... and really enjoy sitting on the deck surrounded by flowers.

On to the cards for today ... there are two!

Today I made a card to honor the Featured Stamper at SCS this week - Heather Telford.  Heather has amazing talent and I have admired her cards since seeing her creations a few months ago.  Here is a link to Heather's blog  ... please check out her fabulous cards - you'll be glad you did!  I CASE'd this card of Heather's to honor her, changing up the colors and image.  Hope you like.

"Masked Grasses for Heather T"

Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes (SU!); Thoughts of you (Rubber-Art Stamps)
Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point (SU!)
Ink:  Certainly Celery, Pacific Point (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Post-it notes for masking, Speedball rubber brayer, Stamp-a-ma-jig, and adhesives

After masking the card front with post-it notes, I brayered Certainly Celery from the bottom up and Pacific Point from the top down.  I removed the top mask only and stamped the image several times across the page, stamping a second time up higher and to the side (second generation stamping), creating a lighter image in the background ... before re-inking and repeating.  Stamped the sentiment in Pacific Point ink and mounted onto a card base of Pacific Point cardstock for stability.

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The second card today is for SCS's Sketch Challenge (SC384).  I love this sketch!! and am sure I will use this again and again.

Here's my take:

"Vintage Simply Soft"

Stamps:  Simply soft, En Francais (SU!)
Paper:  Bravo Burgundy, River Rock (SU!); Generations DP (Simple Stories)
Ink:  StazOn Black, Bravo Burgundy, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Blender pen, sponge, sticky strips, adhesives, and dimensionals

I stamped the image twice in StazOn Black ink onto River Rock cardstock.  I inked the En Francais stamp with Early Espresso, stamped off once on scrap paper and then stamped over top of the images.  I colored in the images with ink and blender pen.  I sponged Bravo Burgundy ink around the edges and added more over one corner.  I mounted all the pieces as shown in the photo above, popping up the main panel with dimensionals for depth.

Mittens & Warm Wishes

Today's Color Challenge from SCS (CC374) is Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery and Pacific Point - with the "dessert" being  - make a winter or Christmas-themed card.  I had fun making this quick and easy card.  Hope you like.

"Mittens and Warm Wishes"

Stamps:  sentiment is computer generated
Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Certainly Celery (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Mittens die-cut (Sizzix), Square Lattice embossing folder (Sizzix), Denim and Honeydew Twine (The Twinery), glue, glue dot, sticky strips, and dimensionals

I followed the advice of Pam Sparks (Expressions with Heart) and die-cut three sets of the mittens from Pacific Point cardstock.  I ran one set through my Big Shot with the embossing folder.  I then glued the three layers together with the embossed layer on top ... this makes the die-cut thick (more like the thickness of chipboard) so that it really stands out.

I cut another set of mittens from Certainly Celery cardstock and then cut off the cuff from each one.  I added glue to the cuffs and then wound Honeydew twine around and secured the ends at the back.  I mounted the cuffs on top of my mittens using sticky strips to hold them securely.

I printed the sentiment from my computer onto Whisper White cardstock, cut it to size and then mounted a piece of Denim twine to the card front using a glue dot to secure underneath the knot at the top.  I mounted the mittens on top of the twine, popping them up with dimensionals to add depth.

Fun and easy card to make!