Celebrating - CAS on Friday Challenge #189

Welcome! It's time for another clean and simple card challenge with CAS on Friday.

This is challenge #189 and the theme is NUMBER/S.

This one had me stumped for a while, I've got to admit. Age cards for little ones are useful but I don't have any grandchildren yet, so that seemed to be planning a bit too far ahead, lol. Hubby had a zero-ending birthday this year but didn't want to acknowledge those digits (lol) so I didn't do a number card for him. Then I recalled that a good friend has a milestone birthday coming up in the not too distant future, so I made a card in anticipation of her special day.

As I've always loved the classic elegance of black and vanilla together, I used that colour scheme with some glittery gold thrown in for good measure. The background is gold embossed with a damask pattern, another classic that never seems to go out of style.

Materials used:

• stamps - Damask (Tim Holtz)
• card - very vanilla, basic black, gold glitter
• dies - large numbers, Celebrate You
• other - craft foam, Big Shot, gold embossing powder, heat tool

Have you got someone who has a special number birthday or anniversary coming up? Then join in our challenge and make them a card! And don't forget to head over to the CASOF blog to see what my team mates have come up with for your inspiration.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Say It Isn’t So

My baby is 20 today.

But I’m okay. Really. I’ll be fine. Yes, my eyes are a bit wet, but it’s just my allergies playing up. You know, as they do...in winter.

And I had NO idea what to make her for a card. None. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

I even felt some performance anxiety...I mean, she’s this intelligent, talented, amazing person, who created an animation for me for Mother’s Day. Yes, an animation. How many mums get one of those from their kids? It’s so unique and so special and how was I supposed to top that? And there’ve been so many birthdays that I’ve used all her ‘favourites’ - favourite colour, favourite things. I did get one bright idea relating to the degree she’s doing at uni, but decided to keep that for her graduation card, which I’ll need in just a few more short months...okay, deep breath...put that thought away for now...I can do it. I’m fine.

Maybe I should keep it simple, I thought. She’s a no frou-frou kinda gal. Perhaps that cute little pig saying ‘Ham it up for your birthday’? But then, she’s a vegetarian. Flowers? Nah, floral cards are not really her style. She wears a lot of black, maybe a sympathy style card for the demise of her teens? Hmm, no, I think she’s quite glad to see the back of them.

When I asked her to name three colours she likes (at the moment), she gave me grey, a pastel and a touch of gold. Then I asked for bold colours (I had Bokeh in mind), I got deep burgundy and a dark sage green. Sounds like a Christmas card, right? But I gave it a go, valiantly. And there were a few rejected half-made wannabees, I'm not going to lie. So I slept on it and found my way back to her original three colour combo, and here's what I finally ended up with:

That's her cat Missy on the outside window ledge, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - smoky slate, basic grey, whisper white, vellum
• other - Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, sponge, balloon punch, gold sequins, mini glue dots, mounting tape, mounting strips, tweezers, glue pen

Hopefully she'll like it; she loves green and ombre, so fingers crossed. The green is new colour soft seafoam and I'm loving it already. I carried the balloon and sequins through to the inside...

We're off to lunch to celebrate (she has classes tonight, so dinner is out) and I've just finished icing the cake - more soft green here too, as it's a gluten free pistachio and lemon cake. Delish (we've had it before).

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Edited to add: She loves the card! Yay!

I Just Can't Resist

Hello from down the rabbit hole! It's great in here - there's distress oxide inks and chocolate marshmallow Easter eggs! What more could a crafter wish for? Okay, you make a good point: wine would be good too. I'm sure the sun is over the yardarm somewhere in the world, right?

So...cards, yes.

I've always loved the white on white effect, especially when teamed with a pop of colour. Today's first card is such a one - take a lookie:

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - whisper white, lemon lime twist
• other - balloon punch, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, mounting tape, distress oxide inks, sponging tool, two-way glue pen, snail adhesive

More balloons for my second card and I've used a stencil for this one, spritzing it with water then applying over my sponging for the oxidation process to give me my pattern.

In the next close up, you can see the recessed panel and the shine on the sentiment. It was stamped in craft ink and clear embossed.

Materials used:

• stamps - Picture Perfect Birthday
• card - Sahara sand, whisper white, basic black, Sahara sand patterned paper
• other - basic black craft ink, clear embossing powder, heat tool, double stitched rectangle dies (non SU), chevron stencil (non SU), black rhinestone (non SU), balloon punch, linen thread, Dimensionals, mounting tape, sponge dauber, distress oxide inks (non SU)

My last card is pretty straightforward sponging, but I love the colour combination.

Materials used:

• stamps - Colourful Seasons
• card - basic black, whisper white, silver foil
• other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, silver embossing powder, heat tool, Card Front Builder thinlits, Big Shot, Tree Branch Circle die (Memory Box)

 Time to get back to some chocolate...I mean...housework :-P

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

CASE

As crafters, I'm sure we're all familiar with the old adage, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' - in fact, we even created our own version of the phrase: CASEing. To CASE means to 'copy and share everything' and it's a major part of what we do - we share our creations in the hopes of inspiring others. There is an etiquette to CASEing though: if you copy someone's else's work, you give them credit for the original design and don't just purloin it as your own idea.

Today's card is one I've CASEd from Paula Dobson, who is a master with a brayer or a sponge. Sure, I've made a few cosmetic changes, but it's still essentially the card she designed. I fell in love with it and simply could not resist attempting to recreate it, and I'm so glad I did.

Here's my take:

You can see Paula's original here, plus she also gives a brief rundown on how she made it. Two tips I can give from my own experience: (1) don't apply too much ink when you're sponging and (2) keep inky fingers away from the clean white space! (yep, learned that one the hard way, lol)

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You (SAB)
• card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponges, rhinestones, stamp-a-ma-jig

We're coming to the end of the Sale-a-bration promotion, but I know I'll be using this stamp/die combo for many months to come, I just love it.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

I Heart You

I woke up yesterday morning with an idea for a Valentine's Day card in my head, so naturally I had to try it out to see if my vision would work. And while it's by no means a Work of Art, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Take a lookie:

I did the texture paste hearts first then assembled the rest while I waited for it to dry, and because I had it all mapped out in my head, this card took probably no more than 15 minutes to make. Some retired product used - ie the papers and the triple heart punch - along with the gorgeous new Celebrate You thinlit and Amazing You stamps. This is the best option in the SAB offering, in my opinion. So versatile.

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You
• card - melon mambo, whisper white, basic black, retired DSP
• other - stitched circle die, Celebrate You die, Big Shot, triple heart punch, Dimensionals, texture paste, distressing tool

There's a little more decoration on the inside too:

That's it! Happy Valentine's Day to you all and thanks for calling in today.

Cheers

Kez

No Place Like Gnome

Every year, as part of the Australia Day celebrations, the Australian Gnome Convention is held just a few kilometres away from us. Now, admittedly, I've never been, but I do love gnomes and so I thought it might be fun to use a gnome on my Australia Day card this year.

This little guy sure looks like he's ready to have some fun, doesn't he, with his jazz hands? LOL. The 'celebrate' die from SU's SAB catalogue was absolutely perfect for my card.

Materials used:

• stamps - MFT You Gnome Me
• card - whisper white, real red
• other - Big Shot, MFT You Gnome Me dies, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends, Copic markers, Celebrate You thinlits, clip art, computer and printer

Happy Australia Day, everyone. Hopeyouhaveagoodone!

Cheers

Kez

Getting Inky

I just adore getting inky!

Sponging and brayering are my favourite methods of ending up with ink all over my fingers and hands, and the card I have for you today is a sponged one. In fact, it's an example of the Bokeh technique (pronounced just like bouquet, I read somewhere). I'm really proud of this card - I'm very, very happy with how it turned out and the colours draw my eyes every time I catch sight of it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You
• card - berry burst, basic black, shimmer white
• inks - berry burst, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie, whisper white, basic black, crushed curry
• other - Celebrate You thinlits, fine-tip glue, stamp-a-ma-jig, bokeh template, sponges

What do you think? Is that colour combination a hit for you too?

Although the stamp set contains 'amazing' in the same font as the die, I wanted the extra dimension the die gives, so that's why I've used it. You could just as easily simply stamp the word instead. This stamp set/die combo are both in the SAB catalogue.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez