CAS Christmas

It's a dreary, rainy day in Virginia (and now my brain is singing Rainy Day in Georgia!). I've had this leftover piece of paper from a recent day of playing with my gelli plate and this simple layout for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge was perfect to let the background shine (literally - thanks to some gold acrylic paint)!  I used Liquitex acrylic paint in gold, red oxide and burnt umber colors - brayered over the gelli plate.  I pressed a TCW 6x6 mini basketweave stencil over the gelli plate, removed it, then pressed white cardstock over the plate which resulted in the above background.  I need to add to my Christmas card stash, so went with some holly leaves and gold glitter berries.  Leaf edges were sponged with Always Artichoke ink then brushed over with a Wink of Stella clear shimmer brush pen.  I love this pen for subtle touches of shimmer and shine! I'm also playing along with SCS Ways to Use It challenge to take the first letter of our username and create a theme, color, etc. that starts with that letter.  My SCS username is cullenwr (not very creative but it's simple to remember) so the "C" stands for Christmas!

PAPER: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, White.
ACCESSORIES: Gold cording (SU), Recollections gold glitter shapes; Flourish, Holly & Mistletoe Sizzix die; Wink of Stella clear shimmer brush pen, Liquitex paints, Gelli plate, Brayer, Stencil.

Thanks for stopping by...always love when you share a comment!
 

Sketch For You To Try

This is my second post for today (scroll on down for my CTD card) and I'm using Jen's fun layout for her October Sketch For You To Try challenge over on the Reverse Confetti blog. I'm finally inking up this Inner Rock Star set that has been staring at me...begging me to see some ink!  I was triggered by the rainbow chevrons in the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger photo and knew I wanted to use these fun papers from the "My Girl" 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye.  The records were stamped with Smoky Slate ink and punched with a 1" SU punch.  I just had to add the guitar and what rock star doesn't like a little bling, so went with some star stickers, a rhinestone and some Wink of Stella clear shimmer brush touches here and there!

STAMPS: Inner Rock Star (Reverse Confetti)
INK: Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray

Thanks for stopping by...heading to the shower then off to work this afternoon.

Color Throwdown

It's Wednesday and that means there is a new Color Throwdown Challenge happening! Barbara Anders is our hostess with a great color palette that's perfect for Halloween, fall or whatever else your little heart might want to create! Don't you just love those eyeballs in the candy corn? :-)

I thought it would be fun to use 3 of the colors to stamp a leafy background.  I then colored up this trio of pumpkins with Copics, added Wink of Stella clear glitter brush highlights to the leaves and tendrils, then fussy cut and popped with foam dots.  I opted to use Crushed Curry ink instead of Daffodil Delight for a more fallish hue and also because it matched the sentiment banner better!
I'm also entering this into Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge.  What a great layout!

Remember...you don't have to have the exact colors.  Use something close and then link it up on the Color Throwdown blog using the linking tool at the bottom of the post.  If you post to an online gallery, please use the keyword, CTD263.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the rest of the design team's creations!

                                                       Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits
                                              Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Joan Ervin - Stamping With Passion

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud
Melody Rupple - A Paper Melody (on vacation this week)

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy

Vickie Zimmer -  Smitten

                                    Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations (you are here)

Sankari Wegman (October guest designer) - Sankari's Sunshine Corner

STAMPS: Season of Change (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), Love Notes (Verve), Happy Fall (Verve)
PAPER: Jen Yanok mat pad (K&Co), Smoky Slate, True Black, White, Tangerine Tango, X-Press It Blending Card
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Smoky Slate, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry
ACCESSORIES: Classy Label Die (Verve), Copics, Fishtail Flags Die-Namics (MFT), Wink of Stella clear brush pen.

CASEing Emily

I came home from work and felt like stamping, so I joined in with the CAS Challenge on SCS to CASE a card of an alumnus - Emily!   She has an amazing gallery, but I finally decided on THIS CARD for inspiration.  It was such a quick and easy card to put together!

STAMPS: Each Day (Verve)
PAPER: My Girl 6x6 pad by MME, White (PTI)
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Corner Chomper, Baker's twine.

Mojo Monday

Hi everyone! Are you ready to get your mojo going in a new week and a new month? Julee has a super Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge once again...perfect for me to ink up some new Verve!  I decided to ink up the new Poppy Birthday stamp set with the coordinating Build A Poppy dies.  I stamped off once using Riding Hood Red and added some shimmer to the centers using a Wink of Stella clear brush pen.  The sentiment was die cut using Verve's Scroll die.  Seam binding is from Verve's Truly Madly Deeply Collection...topped off with a SU Silver Basics button. 

I'm so ready to take a deep breath after a REALLY busy week last week and hoping the pace is a bit saner this week!  Friday and Saturday I was involved with the quilt auction portion of the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale.  Friday morning, we hung the quilts for display until the Friday evening and Saturday auctions would send them out to happy bidders!  A huge surprise was  having one of the ladies on the committee have her quilted wall hanging sell for $4500.00!  Yes, you read that right!  We had another off white quilt made by a 94 year old lady who decided this would be her last quilt and it sold for $4000.00.  She's been a notorious quilter in the area, but health issues have forced her to retire.  The food is always so delicious at this sale - with the homemade donuts being at the top of my favorites list!  Brunswick stew, apple butter, homemade potato chips, BBQ chicken, lots of homemade pies, cakes, cookies, breads...not exactly a place if weight loss is your goal - lol!  It's a once a year type of indulgence! :-)  I neglected to take a photo of the two card baskets I donated to the silent auction (25 cards in each one).

Sooo...if you're still with me after all that rambling...I hope you can play along with us this week at Mojo Monday!  Here are links to the rest of the mojomakers' blogs for more inspiration:

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen 

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

  Teresa Kline

CAS(E) This Sketch - Guest Designer

Hi everyone! I was thrilled to get an email recently from Chrissy - one of the talented gals at CAS(E) this Sketch!  It was an invitation to be a guest designer this week!  Well, I still consider myself a struggler with the CAS cardmaking style, but have pushed myself more and more to create simpler cards lately...especially after lurking around their challenge blog and being inspired by their talented team!  I love October in Virginia with all the pumpkins everywhere (thanks to many local farms that grow them)!  When I was brainstorming for this sketch, I thought it would be perfect to get out some Copics and color up a trio of these fab fall pumpkin images by Verve!  I fussy cut them and popped them with foam tape over a square lattice embossed kraft panel.  I can't seem to not use designer paper, so tweaked the sketch a bit and added two side strips.
It's hard to see the shimmer, but I used a Wink of Stella clear brush pen on the leaves and tendrils. 

You might be able to see it in the close up photo.

Here's what else I used...
STAMPS: Bountiful Harvest (Verve), Flags and Tags Stamps (Lil' Inker Designs)
PAPER: Haunted 6x6 pad by MME, Kraft (PTI), White (PTI), X-Press It Blending Card
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Square lattice EF by SU, Copics, Flag die by Lil' Inker Designs, Rhinestones.

Thanks for stopping by...and don't forget to check out the design team's great samples on the  CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge blog.

Color Throwdown

 

This week it's yours truly that is hosting the Color Throwdown Challenge! Nothing says fall like changing leaf colors, apple cider, pumpkin spiced lattes...well you get the idea. I thought this photo was so typical of what we see in Virginia this time of year and I hope you enjoy playing along with the colors, too!

This was my first attempt at using a gelli plate and boy oh boy was it ever fun (and somewhat messy)!  After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I assembled my supplies and took the plunge.  I first brayered Yellow Oxide acrylic paint over the gelli plate, pressed some bubble wrap onto the plate then placed the white cardstock over the plate.  I then added a few drops of Red Oxide and Gold paints...using the brayer to mix it into the yellow.  I then placed a Pebbles Background stencil over the painted plate and pressed the cardstock over the gelli plate again.  And that is how I created the background!

With this angle, I think you can see the gold highlights better...love that you can move the card around and see a multitude of colors!  I stamped the green leaf using More Mustard ink on Garden Green cardstock.  I then took an Aquapainter and pulled more of the More Mustard ink over the image.  For the second leaf, I stamped Riding Hood Red ink on white cardstock, then added Garden Green and More Mustard inks by swiping the Aquapainter over the ink pads.  It still needed "something", so I took my stipple tool and stippled some Garden Green ink over the leaf.  Lastly, I used the coordinating leaf dies which I love instead of fussy cutting.  I had quite a few steps going on with this card, but was happy with the end result.

With it being a new month, we have a new guest designer on board - the ever so talented Sankari Wegman!  She is known for her colorful and detailed creations and I can't wait to see what she shares with us this month!  Welcome Sankari!

Remember...you don't have to have the exact colors.  Use something close and then link it up on the Color Throwdown blog using the linking tool at the bottom of the post.  If you post to an online gallery, please use the keyword, CTD262.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the rest of the design team's creations!

                                                       Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits
                                              Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Joan Ervin - Stamping With Passion

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud
Melody Rupple - A Paper Melody 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy

Vickie Zimmer -  Smitten

                                    Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations (you are here)

Sankari Wegman (October guest designer) - Sankari's Sunshine Corner

Thanks for stopping by....can't wait to see what you create!