Swirly Tree Christmas

I've been playing with watercolor paper and re-inkers again.  It took me a bit of time and lots of tries until I got the saturated colors I wanted for the card below.  And, with using red and green inks, it was important that they didn't blend together very much or I would have ended up with a brown background.  Luckily the inks cooperated and they sort of formed a ying yang shape which worked perfectly with my new Swirly Tree die from Memory Box.

This card is for this week's Paper Players Challenge (#111 - Leaves or Trees).  And I'm happy to add another Christmas card to my stash ... I now have about 1/2 dozen cards already made for this year and will need to make another 30+ over the next few months.  I do love making Christmas cards! :)

"Swirly Tree Christmas"

Stamps:  Christmas Greetings (SU!)
Paper:  Bazzill White, Watercolor paper; Real Red (SU!)
Ink:  Real Red, Re-inkers:  Real Red, Wild Wasabi (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Swirly Tree die (Memory Box), Circle Nesties (Spellbinders), Aqua Painter, Water mister, adhesives, glue and dimensionals

Boo to You

Today's SCS CAS challenge is  (CAS186) - use fabric.  I don't have any pieces of fabric ... but I do have a small stash of felt squares (black, red and green).  It took me a little while to come up with an idea ... originally I was going to make a card with red felt rolled roses ... but I really wanted to do something a little different, so I decided to use the black felt and make a Halloween card.  It isn't common to give Halloween cards here ... in fact, I have never done it.  But the Children's hospital is asking for Halloween cards for the kids to give to each other, so I thought this card would make some child smile.  I hope it makes you smile too ... it's definitely not very scary! :)

I like the texture from the felt ... it definitely makes it different than using black cardstock.  I ran my fingernail along the letters to try to create a rough edge and show more of the "fuzz" from the felt.  Hopefully you can see that in the photo below.  This card also qualifies for  TLC391 challenge - no stamping.

"Boo to You"

Paper:  Whisper White (SU!)
Ink:  Basic Gray, Sahara Sand (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Black felt, Big Shot, Sizzix (Tim Holtz) Branch Tree die, Bubble Alphabet die (C.C. Designs), small googley eyes, sponges, glue

Used a home-made, randomly-sized scallop template to sponge cloud formations from Basic Gray ink.  Filled in the white blank spots with Sahara Sand ink and then lightly sponged more Basic Gray ink over the whole piece.  Made two panels (card front and inside panel).

Sweet Rainbow Day

I'm having a lot of fun with my Puffy Cloud Dies from Memory Box ... just can't get enough of them!!  Created another summery card using the fun colors from the Throwdown Challenge ... thought they would make a pretty rainbow.  And I love my polkda-dot DP - it just screams cuteness!

Today's card is for three challenges:
Free For All (F4A132 - birthday cards)
Addicted to Stamping CAS #2 Challenge, and
Color Throwdown (CTD207 - Melon Mambo, Barely Banana, Peach Parfait, Gable Green)

I don't have the exact colors of the Throwdown challenge, but substituted ones that looked similar to the inspiration photo. 
Hope you like.

"Sweet Rainbow Day"

Stamps:  Sweet Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Polka-dot DPs in Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo (SU!)
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Large Classic Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Puffy Cloud dies (Memory Box), glue, adhesives and dimensionals

The rainbow was made using the largest oval and die-cutting pieces from each of the polka-dot DPs.  I then layered them on top of each other and cut away the excess from the bottom and sides.

The clouds are three layers of white cardstock, glued together to form thick dies.  I added faux stitching with a Baja Breeze Stampin' Write marker.

You are my Sunshine

Today's card is for two challenges at SCS ... Ways To Use It (WT390 - smile!) and Queen For the Day (QFTD128 - Kathleen Lammie).  Kathleen has a wonderful gallery full of inspirational cards and I had fun looking through to find one to CASE (copy and share everything).  I settled on this card of Kathleen's because the CAS style really spoke to me.  Not only does Kathleen have a wonderful gallery ... she is also so generous, kind and encouraging with her comments on other's cards in the SCS gallery.  Congratuations, Kathleen!  Enjoy your reign! :)

"You are my Sunshine"

Stamps:  All About You & Sweet Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  White (Neenah); yellow gingham (Making Memories)
Ink:  Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Sunflower die (C.C. Designs), Puffy Clouds die (Memory Box), Mandarin Twine (The Twinery); Real Red button (SU!)

I glued three layers together for each die on the card front to make thick dies for more visual impact.  I included a single layer sunflower on the inside panel for interest.

____________________

Just a quick update on my mom for friends and family.  Mom had her surgery on Thursday and came through it with flying colors!!  We are so proud of her ... and happy that the surgery is finally done.  She was moved out of the Cardiac ICU after only one day ... and as her nurse told me "she is a Rock Star!".  She is now in the Cardiac ward and already took a walk down the hallway today.  Amazing progress for only being the second day from open heart surgery!  Mom has pain, but is managing it well and concentrating on getting better so she can come home soon.