SEIZE THE SKETCH #25

Another card for the day and this one is for Seize the Sketch. Lately there have been several cards using black and white paper and I like the combination but it is not something I would typically make because my "thing" is coloring. This image was part of a sympathy stamp set I just received but it did have this flower. So I stamped and embossed the flower and matted it on black card stock. I have a file cabinet with only folders of paper scraps so I chose these two pieces of black/white paper. The floral paper is double sided and side two is the gold. I die cut the wave from a NBUS die set from Paper Smooches and punched the two circles. The sentiment was a sticker which I mounted onto a piece of scrap white cardstock.

Amigos may seem like an odd sentiment to put on a more serious card but one of my oldest and dearest friends of fifty years has a birthday shortly. Her husband also has the same birthday so I used the word amigos. They are truly great life-long friends and I love when we can get together which is not often as they live in Oregon and moi in California.

Paper - Snippets, SU! Black, Whisper White card stock

Stamp - Unity "May Hope Sustain You"

Sticker Sentiment - Paper Source (Hobby Lobby)

Versafine ink, embossing powder, mounting tape

Die Cut - Paper Smooches "Borders 1"

http://seizethesketch.blogspot.com/2014/07/seize-sketch-25-sketch-from-mona.html

CASology: Week 106 RAINBOW

OMG I have never submitted a card so early and my last post was the latest I entered a card. So I saw the cue word and first thing I did was look up colors in the rainbow. I have several brush stroke stamp sets and dies but then I thought of sentiment. This sentiment is a favorite so I went to the upstairs and found a box of the grandkids crayons. I used this NBUS die set from MFT that I purchased in May at the store in Eustis, Florida. (Lucky me) Using PTI white card stock I began the task of die cutting and eventually I cut in white and colored the paint swatches with crayon. Next I die cut using a snippet of kraft paper and stamped the sentiment (4 tries) and used crayon on the brush. Then I had to assemble all these pieces so once again I die cut on white and trimmed the paper to 4 x 5 1/4 and then applied double sided adhesive on the back turned over the paper and inlaid all the pieces  and then attached to white cardstock. Da da, done.

Stamp - American Art Stamp LAD-340 (I purchased at Hobby Lobby)

Die Cut - MFT Dienamics Artist Palette

Other - Crayola Crayons, Memento ink

PTI white cardstock

http://casology.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-106-rainbow.html

Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"

I completed this card a couple of days ago but did not want to post so many cards at once. Then yesterday came and went but I had fun watching grandson #1 who turns 8 next week. We played Racko with grandpa which is a great game that teaches kids about numbers, and then we painted rocks. Before long it was time to get him returned to his mom at work. The mister and I waited from 9 to 3:30 for a repairman to come fix the A/C and then he left at 5:30. So it is a new dayhttp://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2014/07/stringing-along-more-birthday-wishes.html and this card needs to be posted. Blah, blah, blah - I am babbling.

Once again I used the EF/distress ink/water technique - give it a try. When the paper was completely dry I stamped the images and the sentiment. This was mounted onto marigold morning and then the base of the card is baja breeze. The sentiment is from a new set I just ordered from SU! and I like the style of font.

Stamp - My Favorite Things, SU! Sassy Salutations

Embossing Folder - SU! Honeycomb

Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass,, Spiced Marmalade, Evergreen Bough, Memento

Paper - Neenah, SU! Baja Breeze, Marigold Morning

ATCAS: Code word: CELEBRATE

This card is for ATCAS challenge of celebrate. Many birthdays in my family in the month of August but all are males so this will be for a friend who turns 80 in September. The image was stamped on white cardstock and then die cut with a Lil Inkers rectangle die. Next I stamped the cake on five additional pieces of paper, which I cut and glued onto the main image. The candle was colored and I used Copic pink and yellow At You Spica. I mounted this onto a pink piece of paper and with mounting tape attached to the base white card stock.  The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed. Lastly I rounded the corners.,

Stamp - Unity "Party, Party, Party," Paper Smooches "Sentiment Stamps"

Paper - snippets, Staples white card stock

Die - Lil Inkers Rectangle

Other - Versafine, At You Spica pens, mounting tape. embossing powder

http://addictedtocas.blogspot.com/2014/07/challenge-43-celebrate.html

CAS(E) this Sketch #86

This card was made for CAS(E) this Sketch. I began by using the distress ink/embossing folder/water technique which I really enjoy using. When dry I stamped the sentiment on the honeycomb paper. A strip of black cardstock was attached on the left. I inked and heat embossed the bee image and with a paint brush and water I colored with distress ink and Inka-Gold and matted this piece with apricot appeal paper. Using mounting tape I attached the bee strip to the honeycomb piece and then lastly mounted on the the base piece of apricot appeal.

Stamp - Unity "All Hail the Queen Bee"

Embossing Folder - SU! Honeycomb

Ink - Distress Spiced Marmalade, Versafine, Vica Inka-Gold

Paper - Neenah, SU! Black, Apricot Appeal

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2014/07/case-this-sketch-86.html

CASology - Week 105 "RUN"

Some weeks the cue word is easier than others. When I saw run I thought of granddaughter Kiera age 2 1/2 who runs everywhere and all the time. Last year the other grandmother gave her a pair of hot pink high top tennies and they were the cutest. I knew I had a pair of tennies but they were not high tops and when I went to stamp them with pigment ink I did not have a bright enough shade of pink. Idea scrapped. So I chose paint running down the pail and I used this stamp which is one of my favorites. About three weeks ago the cue word was glow and I probably spent 3 - 4 hours on a design and it did not come together.

I cut an aperature on the front of the base card and did some line work with a copic multiliner pen. On a second piece of neenah cardstock I stamped the image and heat embossed and colored with copics. The sentiment was stamped and colored on the bottom of this paper and then I attached it to the inside of the base card. I drew some more paint dribbles and colored them.

Stamp - Unity "You Color My World"

Paper - Neenah

Ink - Copics, copic liner pen, Versafine

Other - embossing powder

http://casology.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-105-run.html

CAS(E) this Sketch #85

This card is for CAS(E) this Sketch challenge #85.  The image was stamped on watercolor paper heat embossed and colored with copics and I dabbed silver in the center of the two larger flowers. I fussy cut the flowers and used mounting tape to attach onto a piece of neenah paper and then stamped the sentiment. This was attached onto a piece of pixie pink paper and then a second piece of neenah.

Stamps - Unity "Bundle of Care," Precious Remembrance " Positive Thoughts"

Paper - Neenah, SU! Pixie Pink, water color

Ink - Versafine, Memento "Cottage Ivy"

Copics

Other - embossing powder, mounting tape, silver Sakura Gelly Roll pen

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2014/07/case-this-sketch-85.html

CASology: Week 104 "PET

This card is for CASology's cue word of PET. There will be many cats, dogs and fish but few, if any, seahorses. This is a true story. At the age of 19 I moved from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles. A high school friend moved to Minneapolis and became a stewardess (politically correct in the 1960's) for Northwest Airlines. On my birthday my friend sent me a package containing seahorses. Really. I think there were  two seahorses, or maybe one. One day when I returned home from work there were now several seahorses. The female seahorse deposits the eggs into the male's pouch and he expels them. The babies emerge fully developed but less than 0.5% survive. Such is the case in less than a week, as memory serves me, there were no more seahorses. In searching seahorses on Google I also learned there are dwarf seahorses found in the Bahamas and I am guessing that is where they were purchased. My seahorses were tiny and quite the conversation piece. 

Lucky me had a seahorse stamp set thanks to SU! First I stamped the background and then stamped the seahorse in pigment ink. My first attempt was bronze but it was too light so I chose this lovely blue. The seahorse (which is a fish) was heat embossed. Next I trimmed the card front and scored two lines beneath the image. Lastly I mounted this piece onto a second piece of white card stock. Apologies if the light is poor but here in sunny Southern California there has been little if any sun for a few days,  reminds me of  the lovely grey Oregon sky.

Stamp set:  SU! By the Sea

Ink:  SU! Coastal Cabana, Color Box (pigment) Harbor

Other:  clear embossing powder, score-pal, white card stock, mounting tape

Because I chose not to use a dog stamp I did want to post a picture of our dog Ginger. She is a terrier mix and looks like Sandy from Annie fame. We rescued her as a pup and the vet said she would probably be about 30 pounds. Wrong. Ginger is 45 pounds and to strong for me to take her for a walk. She is a great pet and very smart.

http://casology.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-104-pet.html

SEIZE THE SKETCH #24

Did you ever have one of those days when you did not want to stop creating?  Tomorrow I am teaching a technique class for my card group and I will show them how to use ink and an embossing folder.  I learned about this neat use of embossing folders from Karen Dunbrook and now I will show my group how to do it too.  I chose three folders and created three cards but then I decided to play some more and chose to CASE a card by HEY THERE...ROSIGRL! (Rosemary).

I inked the EF with Peeled Paint, spritzed with water and lightly pressed onto a piece of white card stock. When the ink was completely dry I stamped and heat embossed two different stamps with Versafine. I mounted the paper onto black cardstock. The base is Certainly Celery and the angled piece is designer paper. I mounted the image with mounting tape and decided to fill in the white space with a sticker sentiment and lastly added some blink into the center of the clocks.

Supplies - Paper SU!: Whisper White, Black, Certainly Celery, DSP

Ink - Versafine, Distress Ink: Peeled Paint

Stamps - Unity "Tomorrow Is Today's Dream," freebie clock stamp

Other - embossing powder, sentiment sticker (Paper Studio), Kaiser Pewter Pearls (bling) 

http://seizethesketch.blogspot.com/2014/07/seize-sketch-24-sketch-from-vicki.html 

Addicted to CAS - Code Word: SKY

The concept for this card for ATCAS came easily and I knew which stamp I would use. I made a sketch and let it sit for a day and then grabbed some cloud cardstock but I did not like the color of the sky. Before stamping the mouse/balloon I cut the stamp into two pieces and separated the flowers. Then I stamped the mouse onto a post-it and cut it out and placed it onto a piece of white cardstock . Distress ink was applied around a cloud die in a circular motion and when the ink was dry I stamped the mouse/balloon with Memento ink. On a second piece of white cs I cut an aperature and then stamped the flowers and trimmed the paper. The mouse and flowers were colored with copics. I cut the balloon from a piece of red paper and fussy cut it and applied with glue. The flower piece was attached to the bottom piece with mounting tape. I also applied Wink of Stella on the flowers. I chose not to put a sentiment on the card front.

Stamp - Penny Black "hugs!"

Ink - Memento, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass

Die Cuts - Nestabilites Circles, MFT Cloud Trio

Other - Copics, At You Spica, Wink of Stella, mounting tape

http://addictedtocas.blogspot.com/2014/07/challenge-42-sky.html

CARD DRIVE FOR EMMA STRONG

In March I was made aware of a card drive for a seven year old girl who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I sent six cards to the young woman who is handling the collection of cards. Patti of stationeryStyles has posted a request for more cards as the card drive ends shortly. On my blog I am posting three cards I made this weekend and hopefully anyone who reads my posts may also want to contribute. Honestly I do not know how to send you directly to the card drive but you will find the information at kellybertram.blogspot.com.

The cards I make are either given to friends, charitable groups or people I know of who are battling cancer. On a personal note nine years ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and during my treatment people placed me on prayer chains and sent cards. The cards I received from people I didn't even know really touched me. I am paying it forward by donating my handmade cards. Receiving a thank you card from someone who is really struggling with their disease overwhelms me. I am blessed that my cancer was not life-threatening and I am fine. Also my grandchildren, one the age of Emma, are all healthy. Thanks and God Bless.  Barb 

One Layer Simplicity Challenge - #7 WAVE THE FLAG

I am not sure if I have done a one-layer challenge before and as such I don't know if this is the correct logo. The challenge is your country's flag colors and mine are USA's red, white and blue. I have taken a photo of my inspiration which is a tee shirt I bought on vacation in May.

The image was stamped onto PTI white cardstock with Memento ink. With a liner pen I made stripes on the flip flops and colored with distress markers. That is it.

Stamp - Unity "Flip Flop Happy"

Memento ink, Distress Markers - Stormy sky, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed

PTI white cardstock, Copic multi liner pen

http://onelayersimplicitychallenge.blogspot.com/2014/07/one-layer-simplicity-challenge-7-wave.html

Seize the Birthday: STARS AND STRIPES

This is not my usual style of card, no copics or embossing folder. I used a stamp from a friend and stamped it and then I noticed there were some musical notes on the image. Since son #1 has a birthday next month and because he has a minor in music I decided I would make him a card and submit it to Seize the Birthday. 

First I stamped some stripes on the image using two colors of distress ink using a stamp from MFT and then gave a spritz of water.  Next I stamped happy birthday on the side of the image and adhered two adhesive stars. This image was mounted onto black cs. I found a piece of vellum sheet music and I photocopied it onto neenah paper and trimmed it to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and attached it to another piece of neenah. The main image was mounted at an angle, I trimmed the corner and mounted it. This is a wonky-type card for me but I am sure my son will like it although he may comment that the notes are both right side and upside down. The stamp image looks like an old report card and the musical notes probably refer to a grade in music.

Stamps - Tim Holtz grunge stamp (name unknown), My Favorite Things "Watercolor Backdrops,"   Paper Smooches "Sentiment Sampler"

Paper - Neenah, SU! Black, Paper Studio Vellum Sheet Music

Ink - Memento, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean

Other - Paper Studio adhesive stars, mounting tape

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2014/07/stars-and-or-stripes.html

CASOLOGY: Week 102 "FLOAT"

Have you ever awoken too early in the morning thinking about a card design? Such was yesterday for me and I could not go back to sleep so I got up and began creating. My original design changed a little but two attempts is probably not bad. 

I chose this cute duck and I inked, embossed and colored with copics and then die cut the circle. Finding the "right" embossing folder from my vast collection (I am not kidding) was more difficult. I came across this NBUS folder which was part of a set of four. I found them on sale at Michael's and there is also a cartridge for the Cricut. Silly me ordered the cartridge but have yet to use it and haven't used the Cricut for over three years. But the embossing folders were a good deal. This folder looks like waves and if you turn it upside down it could be trees. I trimmed the embossed sheet and then mounted little ducky with mounting tape.

Unless I am using a card for my own personal use I do not stamp the inside because my cards are donated to charitable groups who like the inside blank. This card dictated I complete the inside because the sentiment is so cute. The sentiment was stamped in black but Ducky was stamped in London Fog and then I added a strip of Washi tape.

Stamp set - Our Craft Lounge "The Pond"

Die cut - Nestabilities "Circles"

Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug "Give a Hoot"

Other - Neenah paper, Copics, Versafine ink, Memento Ink, washi tape, mounting tape

http://casology.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-102-float.html

SEIZE THE SKETCH #23

I made this card for Seize the Sketch. The image was stamped, heat embossed and colored with copics.  This pieced was die cut as was a piece of swiss dot embossed yellow paper. SU! DSP was used as the base and this was wrapped with baker's twine. Using mounting tape I attached the lamb to the base card. Enamel dots were placed on the centers of the flowers and randomly on the sentiment piece.

Stamps - MFT "Where Flowers Bloom," "Fred Bear Oopsie Daisies" (sentiment)

Die Cuts - Nestabillties Petite Scalloped Circles

Paper - Neenah, SU! DSP, unknown yellow

Other - Copics, Memento Ink, embossing powder, baker's twine, My Mind's Eye enamel dots, mounting tape, corner rounder

http://seizethesketch.blogspot.com/2014/07/theres-still-time-to-play-with-sketch-23.html 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRMA IOWA

Happy Birthday Irma Iowa

This is a special card for a very special lady our own Darnell Knauss.  At first I called her Miss Iowa because she was born in the same area as my mister.  As time went on I called her Irma because I view her as our generation's Irma Bombeck.  No, she is card making bloggers Irma B., but I think she can have a new career.  I think all of us would agree she is "laugh out loud funny" and that is what the inside of the card says. Darnell is there for all of us and is so encouraging, sweet and kind.  Not that other card makers aren't just as kind but I think of Darnell as Miss Congeniality.  I guess that is enough accolades for the birthday girl although there is much more I could say.  So Miss Darnell (aka Irma Iowa) wishing you the happiest of birthdays and I know this will be one special day for one special lady. 

Stamp - Penny Black "Uplifting Occassion" (NBUS)

Copics

Paper - Neenah, SU! Black, Cameo Coral

Other - Versafine, clear embossing powder, mounting tape, Wink of Stella

http://www.ardythpr.blogspot.ca/2014/07/happy-birthday-darnell.html