CAS on Fine Linen

I struggle with CAS style cards, but keep trying to perfect the skill. Maureen has a fabulous inspiration card - see smaller photo - that we were to CASE for the SCS challenge today. The DP, button and lace trim are all from Flourishes April 1-2-3 Create Kit - Primo Botanical and I love the colors! The base CS is Fine Linen by PTI...a color that I forgot I even had! Sad, isn't it, when you have so much stuff that you can't remember what you've got! Anyway, I LOVE this new fern die from Spellbinders' Foliage set! I chomped the corners and used the Seeing Spots EF along the bottom of the card. I love having blank sentiment cards on hand so I can add whatever I need on the inside as the occasion pops up. It's good to see the sun out today after a bad weather w/e. We had a tornado touch down about 5 miles from our house on Saturday and there were lots of trees downed by the 95 mph wind! We had 2 drowning victims in our town - people who ignored a barricade and slipped into the rushing water. So sad, but a reminder that seemingly shallow waters can be dangerous with a strong current. Happy Monday to all!

Some great new tutes!

I don't know about you, but ready-made primas and embellishments can get quite pricey, so any tutorial I find to make your own is welcomed! I added 3 new links this week to my Tips/Tutorials heading at the top of my blog and thought you might want to check them out:
Dawn's Ribbon Roses - please take time to leave a comment on Dawn's project - she's a May Arts finalist and is such a creative crafter and so deserving of winning!
Pinwheel tutorial - I saw a card made by Kerri - you can see it HERE - and she had used a couple of tiny pinwheel flowers - just too cute! P.S. She also has some awesome blog candy!
Wilted Flower tutorial by Ann Clemmer - some satin ribbon, scissors and a heat gun are all you need for these beautiful posies!
Don't forget to join the For Your Inspiration challenge! You have until this Thursday night to enter for a chance to win a Lovely Lotus award!

It is POURING down rain today and I really should be getting some groceries, but will wait until I get off work at 11 PM and hope it's stopped by then! Have a super Saturday!

Viva la Verve

Teresa has a fabulous sketch for this week's Viva la Verve challenge on the Verve forum on SCS! I just love layering this grommet tag over a fancy labels 2 tag. The left border has ribbon, lace and a die cut border in Always Artichoke CS. The flowers are a new find at my visit to Michael's - loved the yarn look and am thinking this could probably be duplicated pretty easily. I need to go on a quest to find some glubers...a new adhesive product shown at CHA that would make it easier to assemble these flowers. The DP was embossed with the square lattice EF. I'm trying to get used to my Big Shot and the different layering. I like the better impressions it gives compared to the CB and the ease that the sandwiches roll through the machine.
STAMPS: Autumn Splendor (Verve)
PAPER: Sweet Pea DP (SU), Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Vintage Cream
INK: Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Recollections floral embellishments, Brads, Fancy Labels 2, Grommet Tags, Open scallop Die-namic by MFT, Ribbon, Lace, Square lattice EF.

Tree-mendous Challenge

This week's Raise the Bar challenge is in honor of Earth Day (April 22) and we are to use a tree image on our card. It's with sadness that I made this sympathy card for the family of my cousin who suffered and died after a long bout with Pick's disease...a rare form of dementia that slowly affects the body in so many debilitating ways. Ironically, there are 9 flowers on this tree and my aunt and uncle had 7 children, so this is like a family tree with a bloom for each member of their family! I love this beautiful DP from the Springtime Vintage pack by SU. The vintage cream lacy border is a die by MFT. The Labels Ten Nestie shape was sponged with Bashful Blue ink while still in the die. The tree was stamped in Old Olive ink.
STAMPS: Thoughts and Prayers (SU)

Color My World

I had to ink up this new PI image...isn't she a cutie? This card is for the Color Throwdown challenge to use teal, summer sun & celery and it's for the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge. It also qualifies for Kim's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS to use a person on your card. Parts of the image were paper-pieced and the remainder was colored with Copics. Here's what I used:
STAMPS: You Color My World by MFT
PAPER: Modern Homemaker (October Afternoon), Stella & Rose "Mabel" papers (MME), White, Black
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Copics, MS border punch, Grass die (MFT).

Teapot Tuesday

This is my second Tuesday post...always love to join in the Teapot Tuesday challenge by Mothermark on SCS. This week's destination is Tom in Greeley, Colorado - a 62 y.o. mentally challenged man with Down's Syndrome. Tom loves to get mail and he loves guitars and cars, so this card is highlighting one of his loves. The music BG has a very muted, distressed appearance, so went with distressing and sponging the edges. The sentiment and image was embossed with copper EP. Some twill tape tabs and punched stars with bling finish it off. The layout is a sketch by Karen Giron for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.
STAMPS: Jazzed Up (SU)
PAPER: Autumn Vine (SU), Music DP by Creative Imaginations

Good Tuesday Morning!

Peggy has some great spring colors for the SCS Color Challenge...So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty in Pink with a dessert option of a "punch bowl"... 2 punches (scallop and oval) were used for the sentiment which was computer generated. The layout is for Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the month of April. I paper-pieced the dress form, sewing machine & spool of thread - adding twine to the center section of the spool. I painted the tape measure ends with platinum Tsukineko ink and after it was dry, added a small black brad.
STAMPS: Sew Suite (SU)
PAPER: Tea Party DP (SU), Old Olive, So Saffron, Neenah Solar White