Baby Card, Panda on Vine, New Arrival

When is a CAS card not a CAS card?

Well...  When it looks like this, of course!

I wonder who agrees with that statement?  I would certainly say that this card has a CAS 'feel' to it...  It has that all important 'white space' after all.  But then...  I did add an extra layer, a smidge of 'paper piecing', white twine as well as Dew Drops...  Do you get my point?

Perhaps this best fits Loll and Bonnie's CAS/Mixed Media Challenge style?  (If you don't know what I'm talking about then all I can say is 'where have you been')?  I know others use this style, too...  but kudos for them for coining the phrase.  Or was it already coined?  If so, I hadn't come across it...

Or maybe this best fits a CAS with layers category?  (Another challenge blog ran this for a while...  Not sure if they are on a break or whether they closed that challenge down).

Or maybe I should simply rephrase the question and ask, 'when does CAS stop being CAS'?

These are just my thoughts on the topic.  Feel free to let me know yours...  if you want to, obviously!

Anyway...  enough rambling...

Here's the inside...

Now I don't always decorate the inside of my cards...  but sometimes I just like to carry over the design a little.  

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Crafter's Companion 'Baby Bamboo'

(Sentiment  - also by Crafter's Companion.  Discontinued)

Dies:

Memory Box 'Grape Vine'

PaperSmooches 'Gift Tag 2'

Ink:

Distress Marker 'Black Soot'  (Used to watercolour image)

Stazon 'Jet Black' 

Memento 'Expresso Truffle' (Stencilling)

Memento 'Tuxedo Black'

Ranger 'Perfect Medium' Embossing Ink

Stencil:

Creative Expressions 'Birch Tree'

Other:

Dew Drops (One clear, two champagne)

White Twine

Foam Pads

Stampendous 'clear' embossing powder

Challenges I'm Entering...

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(An 'all snippets' card this week) 

CASology

'Stencil'

Country View Challenges

'Use a Stencil'

Stamping Sensations

'Anything Goes'

Share Joy

(Challenge #36 - Keep It Clean & Simple)

Make My Monday

'In the Garden'

Time Out Challenges

(Challenge #57 - 'May All Your Weeds Be Wild Flowers')

 

Have a good week...

Donna.

Button Card, Peeping James, Male/Female

I reconnected with an old friend that I hadn't seen for a number of years recently...  She's one of those kind hearted souls that will do her best to help anybody.

This card is one of three I'll be posting over the next little while that are all baby themed...  and all for her.  She's helping me out by trying to keep me busy.

I'm still not quite ready to go into details as yet (if ever)...  but suffice it to say that this is the hardest, saddest year I have ever had to face - and it will not get better.  Not ever.  Yes, I know it will hurt less in time, but trust me on this one.  There is no coming back from it.

So...   I'm sorry that I'm behind on my commenting yet again.  I do save the emails I receive so I will catch up with you all just as soon as I'm able.

I rewrote my blog profile yesterday and coined a phrase that I'm not sure if I've made up myself or heard somewhere else before...  'Gluing my life back together one craft make at a time'.

Anyone heard that before?

Either way, it's spot on for me.

So...  Now that I've given at least some sort of explanation for being MIA, here's a peek at my card.  (He is called 'Peeking James', after all)...

This might not look much like a baby card to most of you.  Young child?  Yes.  But baby?  

They are really not my thing at all, so I've made them all 'Donna' style - and tried to make them all very different from each other.

You know...  I was messaging a lovely craft friend of mine just the other day and bemoaning how long it takes me to take a photo I'm happy with.  And I finally did it...  took a decent photo where my square card looked square enough...  and then realised AFTER spending an age editing it that the mini envelope on the card looked like it was falling apart. Which it wasn't...  It's just that the top flap is actually not glued down in reality and it made for a strange optical illusion. 

So I had to secure it with a spot of White Tac - just for the sake of the photo.  It's a shame because now it's lost some of it's dimension.  But at least in reality it's flap free!

I mess around a lot with different ideas (see photo below)... 

After more than a week of staring at the New Arrival sign that I added to the card I still couldn't decide which one I liked the best...  The before or after?

So I sent a HELP ME message to the same lovely lady I mentioned earlier and quite truthfully said I think I prefer the before - what about you?

She (thankfully) agreed with me.

But what about YOU?

Do you prefer the first or the second version of this card?

My husband and the woman I'm making them for both prefer the second...

Supplies Used:

Stamps:

Lili Of The Valley 'Peeping James'

Sentiments from Crafters Companion

Die:

Marianne Design/Collectables 'Tab With Text'

Punch:

Woodware 'Scored Rectangle Envelope Punch'

Inks:

Stazon 'Timber Brown'

Tim Holtz Distress 'Walnut Stain'

Other:

Twine

Buttons

Challenges I'm Entering...

Stamping Sensations

'Anything Goes'

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

All Snippets

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #155  'Anything Goes'

The Sisterhood of Crafters

'No Design Paper'

Creative Card Crew

Challenge #112  'Anything Goes'

Thanks for stopping by...

Donna. x

Tag Card, Panda, Female

I've been busy sorting through a house full of too many things and decorating my dining room this past few months.  What is it about sorting that invariably means you end up making even more mess than you had to begin with?  It's a SLOW process...  that's for sure!

...  And no, I'm not finished.  Nowhere near as far as the 'stuff' goes.  Plus one of the pieces of furniture that arrived this week is faulty and has to be returned.  

So we have to wait for a collection date and the replacement to arrive.  Then wax the wood. 

Grrr...

Don't they understand that I'm taking over some of the dining area for my craft stash and making it an additional 'work' space?  

I guess they don't.

Anyhow...

It's Friday.  Time for another challenge at Tag You're It!

My tag for today is my first attempt at a tag card and my second attempt using a watercolour technique with distress inks.  It's not perfect, but I like it.  I am using some of my favourite colours, after all :)  

My inspiration for today's tag came from my fellow DT member, Kara Lynne Progreba (see below).

In keeping with the spirit of Kara Lynne's design, I've used an animal image that also has a flower, but to add some texture mine's be overlaid with die cuts from scrap packaging.  

I also have a butterfly on my stamp in lieu of the second critter on Kara Lynne's tag...  and I've opted for what looks like a similar colouring style and included the button to boot!

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Crafters Companion Party Paws 'bamboo'

Dies:

Mama Elephant 'Tags A Lot'

Spellbinders/Nestabilities 'Deckled Rectangles'

Memory Box 'Fabulous Phlox' 

Memory Box 'Butterfly Heart'

Ink

Memento/Tsukineko 'Bamboo Leaves'

Other:

Ribbon

Button

Wooden Peg

Challenges I'm Entering...

House Of Cards

 'Shaped Cards'

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(The butterflies were punched out about 6 months ago - maybe more - and have been waiting in my stash ever since.  The flowers - die cut from scrap card - were cut about 3 months ago, patiently waiting for me to use them...  and the centre panel was a piece of scrap white that was only just big enough for my Nestabilities die).

As you Like It

Favourite fold or Shape and Why

(I LOVE tags because they 'hold their own' equally well as an embellishment or as a focal feature, whether that be a gift tag or a tag on a card.  This card 'tag' shows that there's even more diversity to tags...  plus they come in a multitude of shapes and sizes).

Dies R Us

Challenge #43 'Red'

(I've used Red as my accent colour)

Cute Card Thursday

Challenge #413 'Warm Colours'

4 Crafty Chicks

Challenge #286 'Friendship'

Stamping Sensations

'Anything Goes'

The Sisterhood of Crafters

'Warm Thoughts'

(I chose Friendship/Caring/Spring)

Just Us Girls

'Add A Tag'

Share Joy

Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge

(I'm saving this card to send to my daughter)...

I've chosen

Tags/Flowers/No Patterned Paper

&/or

Tags/Watercolour/Butterflies

&/or

Watercolour/Flowers/Colouring (any type)

&/or

Butterflies/Ribbon/No Patterned Paper

It was my first year anniversary earlier this month.  One whole year in Blogland!

To say a small 'thank you' to those of you that regularly stop by I wanted to offer you the chance to have this small selection of craft goodies sent to your home.

They are all packed up and ready to go.

Would you like them?

If so, leave me a message on this post (or send me an email) and I will include you in a random draw.

I'll give you all two weeks to think about it before I pick a random winner.

Have a good weekend...

Donna. x

Panda with Branches, Baby, Female

Good morning.  

I'm sharing a baby card with you today, but as you can see it's not your traditional pale pink or pale blue!

I've had this design in my head for a very long time, but it's still nothing like I expected it to be...  Funny how it works out like that.

Here's a quick 'how to' guide...

Stamp edges of Kraft card with Kaisercraft Film Edges Texture Clear Stamp in black ink.

Cut a piece of white card a little smaller in size than the card base, distress around the edges with a Paper Distresser Tool and glue into place.

Cut a green piece of card smaller than the white one and emboss using a Darice Bamboo Embossing Folder.  Glue at an angle.

Cut the largest tag from the PaperSmooches Gift Tag 2 set, using Watercolour Card.

Stamp on 'Baby Bamboo' from the Crafter's Companion rubber stamp set using Stazon ink.  Once dry, use Distress Inks to watercolour.

Mount tag at an angle using Foam Pads.

Cut out two branches using the Memory Box 'Grove Branch' die and glue into place.

Cut three flowers from the Elizabeth Crafts 'Bunch of Flowers' set, mold into shape and glue into place.

Cut three stamens from the Memory Box 'Fabulous Phlox' die , shape and glue into place.

Add the sentiment, three Morning Dew Drops and one black peg...


*********************

I love the slightly grunge feel to this card.  When I have the time I plan on making a blue version - I wonder how that one will turn out?

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cuttlebug Mania, who are doing a Tic Tac Toe challenge...
(I've gone for Baby Theme, Emboss, Lots of Layers)

Simply Create Too (Challenge #90) 'For A Precious Child'...

 Time Out challenges (Challenge #35) 'Nature with the Optional Twist of Animals'

... and CAS-UAL chic

Hope you have a good week :)

Donna...

Christmas Tag Card, Polar Bear, Joy

Hi.  How's your weekend going so far?

It looks like I haven't posted anything for a while, but I have been busy crafting away.  Honestly, I have...  How about you?

Anyhow...  I'm later than I'd hoped for my entry into the latest Tag You're It challenge.  This is partly because I've been working on two birthday cards, but also...  I had no watercolour card and I had to wait what seemed like ages for it to arrive.  Not that I'm impatient, of course!

Here's my finished design...

...and here's the inspiration picture.  Isn't that 'Ruff Day' sentiment just the best?  

As you can see, I've kept to a similar colour scheme.  I'm guessing that Anja may have stencilled her card background on with ink, but I could be wrong.  I used the new 'Shimmer' stencil from Memory Box with some Sparkle Medium (Sparkle Gel) from Imagination Crafts.  Sadly, the camera doesn't do justice to the slight sparkle effect.  Never mind...   

My layers are different in style to Anja's, and in lieu of Washi Tape I've chosen to stamp on a distressed film edge. To be honest, I had so many different edging options, but by this stage I knew that I wanted to portray the 'captured moment' of a polar bear cub seeing it's first snowflake...   Does that come across in this design at all?  I hope so :)

The 'colour wash' was made using Tumbled Glass and Weathered Wood Distress Markers.

One large sentiment to echo Anya's original tag (coloured using my Stampin' Up Chalk Marker), some twine...  and then I had to walk away before the temptation to add some more punched snowflakes from my Martha Stewart/All Over The Page 'Aspen Flurry' took over!  

As my husband's into photography I'll be saving this card for him.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.  If you can spare the time, I always enjoy reading any comments you may have :)

Donna...