Tuesday, October 29, 2013

TST #142 All the Leaves are Gone!

Yes Autumn has just about finished its grand colour display and the majority of the leaves are down and raked up.  However this week I decided to give autumn just one more chance to show it's colours.  I have chosen a muted colour scheme for my card instead of the vibrant autumn colours.

Here is the great sketch that we have to work with this week at Try Stampin on Tuesday.

Use the colour ORANGE on your card!

I think that there are so many possibilities for this sketch and I know that I will keep it in my book of sketches for future use.
The leaves were copied onto double sided DSP that I had on hand using a photo copier.  The DSP that I chose had a combination of pale orange and the green. I wanted the clean lines of the maple leaf so I sketched out the leaves and simply copied them. Once they were copied out I fussy cut them and then edged the sides with a marker to make the sides bolder.
I was very pleased with the results and hope that you are as well.  Now it's your turn.  Give this great sketch a try and don't forget to post your accomplishments on our site!

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one. 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

TST #140

About a month ago CherylAnn, our leader over at Try Stampin on Tuesday, came up with a plan to have the Designers split into two teams.  Instead of us posting on a weekly basis she decided to go with  every other week.  Even with this new plan I am really having a hard time getting my act together to get my post done on time.  That four letter "WORK" keeps getting in the way, along with having to put more and more time into looking after my Dad.  I hope that this will change but I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel right now.

This week the sketch was nice and simple.
But even with it being simple I managed to screw it up.  I put my whole card together and then realized that I had placed the items on upside down.  Good thing it was the type of card that could work the other way.
You can see here were I goofed and put the accents on the wrong way.  
 
Now it's time for you to show us your stuff.  Hop on over to Try Stampin on Tuesday and see what the other Great Designers have in store for you.  Don't be afraid to show us your mistakes either!  We can't be perfect all the time.....just most of the time! Don't we wish!

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.  

Monday, October 14, 2013

Sunflower Anniversary

First I would like to wish all my Canadian Friends a Happy Thanksgiving and my American Friends a Happy Columbus Day!  The weather up here above the 49th has been a mix this weekend.  Saturday was spectacular and great for being outside, Sunday wet and great to snuggle up with a book inside and so far today it looks promising!

Today I would like to show you an Anniversary card I put together for my Son and Daughter-in-Law.  Each year I try and make a card that follows along with the theme that they had for there wedding, that being Sunflowers.
I started by using a piece of white CS and running it through my Cuttlebug using the Ray-o-sunshine embossing folder.  Then with my ink I sponged the raised portions of the embossed areas.
Then stamping the Sunflower onto the CS I sponged it with two different shades of yellow and a little orange to give it a little more depth.  Once I had it all shaded I cut down between the different petals and then cut the flower in half.  I used the smaller half under the upper half to give the flower more depth again.  Then I shaded the area behind the flower with my Chocolate Chip to make it stand out even more.  The last thing I did was add "Seed" beads (very fitting since the last name is Seed) as the centre accent of the flower.

I'm sure that they are going to love it and it will be added to there Sunflower card collection.

Now for a somewhat funny thing.  We cooked a ham for Thanksgiving and had some last night for dinner.  My husband had the great idea to make scalloped potatoes along with the ham.  We usually make our scalloped potatoes from scratch because I prefer to make home made rather than box made.  However we were rushed for time so he purchased a box of scalloped potatoes. I told him to make sure that he got milk as well....but he forgot.  So what to do when you don't have milk on hand...use coffee creamer milk.  Not just any coffee creamer milk, but ID French Vanilla coffee creamer milk.  I know it sounds gross, but he mixed it half and half with water and OMG the scallops were to die for.  They almost tasted like ice cream.  So our new philosophy is use what you have on hand!

Hope you like my sunflower and try your scallops with something other than milk.  You may just like them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

HOC C&S Sketch #2

The definition of Clean and Simple is as follows from our definitions at House of Cards:

Clean & Simple:  These cards use minimal or NO embellishment.  There should be lots of "white space" present on your card--open space with no stamping or anything else.  One layer cards are usually considered CAS as long as they are not covered in stamping.

However, this week we had a very busy sketch which I thought did not quite go with a Clean and Simple look.  
There was a lot of thought put into this card even though it doesn't look like it because it didn't quite turn out the way I would have wanted it to.  
I created a mask for the centre point and traced it.  Then with the negative portion of the mask I stamped the wording from French Foliage.  along with the leaves and the stamp mark.  Then using the reverse of the negative I placed it over the centre point and stamped the outer water marks.
 
The leaf was stamped out and sponge coloured, crinkled it up and using twine I created a barbed wire effect with to finish off the card.  

I know that it is kind of pushing the envelop for a Clean and Simple card, but it still does work.  

How would you see this sketch in a Clean and Simple form?  Show us your work and don't forget to post it to our site this week.  The other Great Designers have other options for you to get even more inspired.

Thanks for dropping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.



Thursday, October 3, 2013

HOC Photo Inspiration Shabby & Vintage with Birthday Wishes on the Side

Today is my daughter Ashley's 27th birthday.  She is far from a Girlie-girl, but I thought that I would make her a vintage style card for her birthday.    The inspiration for the card came from the House of Cards, photo inspiration challenge that I used on Monday's post.  My style for HOC is Clean and Simple, but I thought that I would take it up a notch for this card and be a little more fussy.
http://blogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/centsational-style/files/2012/09/autumn-branch-centerpiece-bhg.jpg












Happy Birthday Ashley...
Love Mom and Dad

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

TST #138 A Hint of Lime

It is certainly a birthday month for me.  I have been making birthday cards it seems every week for a co-worker.  This week over at Try Stampin on Tuesday we have not only a sketch, but a colour combination challenge for you to try.
Use Black and White and any other colour

I decided to kick it up a notch and go with lime green.
I started with my green base and added the black.  Cutting a second piece of the lime green I stamped it up using the words from French Foliage.  Then onto a piece of white CS I stamped the remaining leaves and accent stamps.  Using a Postage Stamp Punch I punched out the images.  I chose to go square instead of round like the sketch.
I added a sloppy string bow and stamped the sentiment just below the string onto the black to bring more attention down.

Hope you like what I have come up with.  Need more inspiration then see what the other great designers have in store for you over at Try Stampin.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.