CAS Times Two

I created two cards today for two different CAS challenges. The first one uses the adorable All About Ewe set by Reverse Confetti with the great layout for Freshly Made Sketches. I started with some beautiful spring papers from RC's Fun Times 6x6 pad. The images were colored with Copics.  The jury is out with the sentiment.  I'm not real happy with this option, so will have to consider Plan B.

My second card highlights a great faith-based sentiment from Reverse Confetti's God is Good set.  

Papers are from Recollections' Seaglass 6x6 pad and the Lacy Scallop Circle die is a go to favorite by Reverse Confetti.  Their Edge Essentials dies are another of my favorites so the tiny scallop edge was a must have detail!  The layout uses the sketch from the current CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 31 - "Life is like a rollercoaster...with all its ups and downs."  --Kyler

                           

Good Friday

Good Friday everyone! The holy week leading up to Easter is always a special time for Christians! While my card isn't exactly an Easter card, the sentiment conveys my feelings of Easter - a time to celebrate a risen Savior!  

I'm entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where "Anything Goes" is the theme this week.  Since Stampendous is the sponsor, I pulled this Ranunculus Field stamp made by their company.  I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Ranger watercolor paper, then quickly clear embossed the image.  I then used Mijello Mission Gold paints to watercolor.  I then die cut the panel using MFT's Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics and adhered it to a Summer Sun (old SU retired color) base.  The sentiment die - by MFT - was cut 3 times to give it more dimension.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder: 

MAR 30 - "Life is about using the whole box of crayons."

                          --RuPaul 

MFTWSC: You're Spectacular!

  
My second card today is another clean and simple design using the layout for the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge! 

I started with this pale gray patterned paper from MFT's Calm and Cozy Chevron 6x6 pack and paired it with a bit of Sour Apple CS. 

The fun sentiment (from Geek is Chic stamp set by MFT) was white embossed on Black Licorice CS, and I love how the black glasses really pop against the green! I also used MFT's Stitched Rectangle STAX and Square Peek/Boo Window Die-Namics.  

So...a punny greeting is completed and waiting for a geeky recipient - lol! Thanks for stopping by...

Tossed Florals

I recently got some happy mail when my WPlus9 order arrived! There was a freebie stamp set called Tossed Florals and the stamps were displayed so evenly on the acrylic sheet that I left them all in place and stamped them onto some cardstock to create a pretty background!  Easy peasy!  

I colored the images with Zig Clean Color brush markers.  The sentiment -white embossed on black - is from the Simon Says Stamp Rejoice set and the cross die is from the coordinating die set.  I only sent out 4 Easter cards this year as the holiday sneaked up on me too quickly and left me unprepared.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 29 - "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings."

                     --Wiliam Blake

Color Throwdown

Hello blog friends! There's a new Color Throwdown Challenge and Lisa Henke has chosen such a pretty soft color combo for us: blush, pink and apricot! I was definitely inspired by the photo to create a floral background using stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  The florals are from their We Can Do This set and the sentiment is from the Rejoice stamp set with matching dies. Oops...unable to find the Rejoice set in the SSS store - ? retired set?

To play along with us, please go to the Color Throwdown Challenge blog for all the details!  For more inspiration from the rest of the design team, click on their links below:
Amy Rohl 
Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders   
Broni Holcombe
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Cheiron Brandon  - March Guest Designer 

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder: 

 MAR 28 - "We must dare, dare again, and go on daring."        --Georges Jacques Danton

Transformation Tuesday

Melissa Phillips has a challenge on the Papertrey Ink blog today that she calls Transformation Tuesday Challenge. She takes a previous card she created and tweaks it into a newer, different version and has challenged us to do the same.  I went into my PTI archive entries and found this card on the left.  I wanted to make a brighter, bolder version of the same layout and this is what I came up with...

I really like this transformation idea and have challenged myself to do this every Tuesday!  I have over 3000 cards in my Splitcoaststampers gallery so I have plenty to CASE for a LONG time - lol!  Here's what I used:

STAMPS: Ruby Rose (PTI), Infinity Frames Sentiments (PTI).
PAPER: Bitty Big: Sweet Blush patterned paper by PTI; White (PTI); Black Licorice (MFT).
INK: Sweet Nectar and Flamingo by WPlus9; Seafoam by Reverse Confetti.
DIES: Tag Sale: Quilted Die by PTI; Ruby Rose by PTI. 

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 27 - "As soon as you trust youself, you will know how to live."

               --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  

The Card Concept

I've got a new clean and layered card for The Card Concept challenge where the theme is "Spring Has Sprung". The photo inspired me with the colors, the birds, and the striped rug, so MFT's Tweet Friends and Blissful Blooms with matching dies was my go-to choice.  Patterned papers are from Pebbles and come in a 6x6 pad called "Family Ties". 
Images were colored with Copics.

Some of the images were popped up with foam tape.  Everything is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go into a lot of detail.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 23 - "What wisdom can you find that is better than kindness?"

              --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Another Spring Birthday

Remember me saying there are tons of spring birthdays happening? Here's another card...specifically for a coworker who asked for butterflies and purple. 

I love the loose watercolor look of this Hibiscus Bouquet stamp set by Altenew.  It's actually just two-step stamping!  Speaking of Altenew...they are sponsoring the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which has a "Floral Frenzy" theme, so I'm entering this into that gallery as well.

STAMPS: Hibiscus Bouquet (Altenew); Whole Lotta Happy (WPlus9).
PAPER: White, Black by PTI; Black and White Basics 6x6 pad by MFT.
INK: Grape Soda, Parakeet, Bumblebee dye inks by Reverse Confetti; Versamark.
DIES: Happy Trio (WPlus9), Floral and Butterfly (Concord and 9th), Hibiscus Bouquet (Altenew), Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by MFT. 

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

 MAR 22 - "Your best takes your time."
                        --Thomas

MFT Wednesday Sketch

I had a slow, icy trip home from work last night at 11PM, then woke up to about 6" of snow that continued to fall into the evening! I took an unplanned day off work...not brave enough to drive in this mess. That gave me some extra stamping time.  I've had this stamp set for weeks...maybe months...and never inked it up until now! 

This was so much fun to paper piece in addition to coloring with Copics! I'm using the layout for the new MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge.  

STAMPS: Feel Better (My Favorite Things).
PAPER: Fresh Prints paper stack by SU; X-Press It Blending Card; Stone CS by Reverse Confetti.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
DIES: Feel Better and Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics by MFT.
COPICS: Y21, Y26.

Color Throwdown

Spring is officially here as of yesterday, so my card for the new Color Throwdown Challenge is to celebrate spring's arrival! Jodi is our hostess and has chosen black, white and peach for our colors.  I spied some green in the photo as well and just had to add some leaves to my image. 

That large gingham print chair led me to use Concord and 9th's Plaid Background stamp for starters.

This is my first time using any products by Neat and Tangled, but their Hello Spring stamp set and matching die in their last release was too much to resist any longer! The florals are from the Brushed Blossom stamp set by Concord and 9th and were fussy cut and popped with foam tape.  To get the plaid background to stamp so clearly required multiple inking and stamping with my MISTI.  I love this look but will admit it takes a lot of muscle power and re-inking to get it to stamp properly.  I think I stamped it at least five times! 

To play along with us, please go to the Color Throwdown Challenge blog for all the details!  For more inspiration from the rest of the design team, click on their links below:
Amy Rohl 
Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders   
Broni Holcombe
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Cheiron Brandon  - March Guest Designer

 Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

 MAR 21 - "Hope is like the sun. When it's behind the clouds, it's not gone. You just have to find it."          --Matthew

 

Rainbows at The Paper Players

Happy spring everyone!  It's officially here today even though snow is in the forecast for tonight! 
Nance Leedy has a fun rainbow plus CAS theme happening at The Paper Players challenge! Whenever I play with alcohol inks, I feel like there's a rainbow effect that results.  I already had the background and sentiment on my leftover pile, so a quick die cut of the butterfly cover plate and this card was completed!  

STAMPS: Direct Messages by Papertrey Ink.
PAPER: Yupo by Ranger; White by PTI.
INK: Versafine Onyx Black -stamped twice using MISTI.
DIES: Butterfly cover plate by PTI; Direct Messages by PTI.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 20 - "Where there is love, there is joy."

                                                   --Mother Teresa

Crazy 4 Challenges

 It's been far too long since I've played along with Crazy 4 Challenges! I'm continuing to build up my birthday card stash since April is a big month for birthdays both at work and in the family.  I flipped the sketch upside down using some gorgeous new papers from Reverse Confetti's last release. 

What did I use?
STAMPS: Garden Bunch and Sentiment Essentials by Reverse Confetti.
PAPER: Fun Times 6x6 pad, Lime Green, Stone CS by RC.
INK: Wisteria, Piggy Bank, Flamingo dye inks by RC.
DIES: Edgers, Garden Bunch and Sentiment Essentials by RC. 

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 19 - "Don't just go with the flow, take some dares through the rapids."                                        --Isabelle

 

Freshly Made Sketches

A quick and easy watercolor card for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge. You'll be seeing a number of butterfly birthday cards in hopes that one of them will be suitable for a coworker that requested a birthday card with purple and butterflies for his wife.  

I started with smooshing Seedless Preserves and Twisted Citron distress inks on Ranger watercolor CS.  The butterfly was white embossed then die cut and painted with Seedless Preserves distress ink. Here's what else I used:

STAMPS: Limitations by Tim Holtz Alterations; Lots to Say by Reverse Confetti.
DIES: Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics by MFT; Limitations by Tim Holtz.

Quote from 365 Days of Wonder:

MAR 18 - "Be the person who can smile on the worst day."

                            --Cate