Ribbons and Bombs

Hi all! It's my turn to showcase some cards made with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. These two cards are rejects from a publication call where the challenge was to make a flower from non flower stamps.

My first idea was to use the ribbon from Calm and Gentle.



At first I stamped the ribbon evenly around in a circle, but it didn't look that interesting. So my next idea was to stamp in two layers of petals, alternating the heights. And then using a different color for each layer. Better!



The sentiment from that set makes a stem, and I used one ribbon for a leaf. Finally, I turned the ribbon upside down and just stamped the ends to make some grass. Definitely got a lot of mileage out of that ribbon stamp.

The other idea was to make a flower out of a bomb from Ka-Boom.

Just like with the ribbon, stamping it around in a circle does most of the work.

Both bomb stamps are used here. the solid one in different shades of red/pink, and the chevron one. Best part is the explosion makes for a nice flower center.

The white border is a set of words from the Truth Is set. A little chunk is taken out of the panel with pinking shears where the ribbon tabs are.

Thanks so much for looking!
-Kelly

CFC #109 - Polka Dots + Adventure Pics

 Loved seeing all the different kinds of material used in the gallery creations this week! Such great ideas and inspiration. This week the challenge is to use polka dots. We're sponsored by Simon Says Stamp, who so generously is offering a $25 gift card for the winner of this week's challenge!

You may be thinking, "did she even read the challenge before posting this card?"

Upon closer inspection of my Die-namics Skyline die, I realized the windows are actually round ... and polka-dotted! I used glossy cardstock for the background, which allows a smooth blending of inks, especially the intense HA neon inks. The moon mask is from two circle punches. The cityscape is cut up and rearranged in back.

For those who may not know, Ramadan started on Wednesday. This card is for my friend Saira who goes on the city adventures with me. So the cityscape is also symbolic of our trips together. I wasn't quite sure how to make a Ramadan card, or what one even looks like, so I checked out a few on-line. Hopefully I got the idea right, and it's not off in any way!

Here are some pics from our adventure last week ...

Butterfly garden at Peggy Notebaert Museum

 

A true hidden gem of Chicago, the Caldwell Lily Pond is right outside Lincoln Park Zoo. Originally from the Victorian times, it was re-done in 1936 in the Prairie-style architecture that Frank Lloyd Wright is so famous for.

Creatures from the Lily Pond.

 Monkeys on the waterfall.

At the end of the day we always ask "favorites." This was Logan's favorite part. Perfect jumping rocks.

This is my favorite. Saira picked out a great Ethiopian restaurant for dinner (The Ethiopian Diamond in Edgewater). I had never eaten this cuisine before, so I was excited to learn that your food comes out family style on a huge platter. The fun part is that you use the tart "pancakes" as silverware to grab your meats and vegetables. 

I would not want to be a bus boy in a place with no silverware, especially when kids sit down!

 Jackson's favorite. The best frozen yogurt shop EVER! Lickety Split.

 It was late on a Monday night, and it was still packed with about 50 satisfied customers. I ordered a creation that started with red velvet cake, then added marshmallow fluff, raspberries, frozen yogurt, whip cream, and a cherry. Um, yes, we will be back!

  
How can this not make you happy?!?

Thanks so much for looking!

-Kelly

First Birthday ... Card + Best Present Ever!

Seriously, could she be any sweeter? Cousin Macy is rockin' her first birthday party attire before she gets any purple icing on it in the name of good eats.

Here's her first birthday card. I used more of my lifetime supply of practically free lace tablecloth from this card and die cut a marquee shape out of it. Cut in half, it's a book end for the glittered sentiment. You'll notice there are no cutesy animals, clowns, etc. I figured since she's only one, she's not even going to see the card. It's more for her mom, who's elegant and classy. So I'll save the cute kitty for when she's four. 

For the non-card part of this post, I thought I'd share what I always give for a first birthday present (in addition to a toy or something the birthday girl or boy would like immediately). It's Your Birthday Book by Amy Krause Rosenthal. It picks up where a baby book leaves off and asks really fun questions on each birthday through age 18. 

What are your thoughts on God?

Do you like your name?

What's the last thing you were sad about?

If you got $20 to spend what would you buy?

I have one for each of my kids and LOVE it! There's room for a few photos, and an envelope for keepsakes, like a piece of yarn as long as you are tall, a tracing of your hand, sample art work, etc. 

They sell it at Pottery Barn Kids for $20, but I found it on Amazon for only $10 + free shipping! Such a bargain. I've bought almost 20 of them over the last 5 years. I seriously love this book, and how it's an actual birthday book on a child's very first birthday!

 I also put a little inscription on the inside. Of course I was in a huge hurry doing this last minute so my handwriting is not the best. I cut two flowers out of the table cloth and used those under the pinked circle. Writing directly on the inside of the book ends up in smears : ( as I've found out first hand.

I know not everyone is going to fill it out, but for $10 I figure it's worth a chance that they'll end up with something to treasure. I'd love to have something like that from my childhood!

Macy, her wonderful parents, and my son Logan

Anyway, thanks for sticking with my not-so-card-based post.

ETA: yikes! I forgot to link this up to bloggy friend Stacey's super-fun birthday party with tons 'o prizes. If you haven't already, stop by and check it out!

 

-Kelly

CFC #108 - Material Girl

 Hi folks! The CAS-ual Fridays Challenge this week is to use material, cork, lace, felt, etc in your CAS project.  We're sponsored by Ellen Hutson, so you know what kind of fun prize is waiting for the winner : )
 

Huge props to my mom for this one. She's a big garage sale fan, and has been going to sales every Thursday/Friday/Saturday for probably close to 40 years now. She got me started on them, way before it was trendy to thrift or upcycle anything. And now that things are often made so cheaply, I generally prefer to buy antique/vintage furniture.

 
Anyway, last week she spotted a lace tablecloth with a stain right in the middle of it. Only 50 cents. Good for her, she bought it and asked if I would be interested. Heck yeah! I couldn't buy a yard of lace trim for a dollar, let alone 3 yards of actual material. So now I have a lifetime supply of lace. Even cutting the lace flowers out would make for great accents. And there are probably a billion flowers in there.

How easy to put this card together. I punched flowers out of different shades of pink, layered them behind the lace, stamped a sentiment from Dear Lizzy's rubber stamp wheel (check it out at Target, you get about 8 sentiments for $4), trimmed the edges of the flowers, and wrapped the lace around the gray panel before adhering to the white base. And I could make about a hundred more of them if I wanted!

Thanks so much for looking!

-Kelly

Fusion #13

(Please scroll down for my CFC post earlier today)

For anyone who's been holding out on the Fusion Challenge, now is the perfect time to play! You've got a whole month (yep, a MONTH) to come up with your take on the sketch, the photo, and/or a fusion of both. This challenge stays open until July 23rd. 

For my take on the sketch, I replicated the objects at the top of the panel, the banner on each side of the panel, and the sentiment on the panel. The sentiment needed a little more pizazz after I stamped it in orange, so I highlighted the secondary sentiment with a yellow marker. If you look closely at the embossed strip, you may notice that it's actually two designs. I did the stripes first, didn't like it because it was too similar to the candles, and then embossed the sunshine impressions over it. Definitely not intended, but I like the look.

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

CFC #107 - Hunger Games

 Hi friends! We've got a trendy challenge at CAS-ual Fridays this week ... you must use arrows on your Clean and Simple project. Fun!! Our sponsor is the fabulous Simon Says Stamp who will award the lucky (well, really, talented) winner with a mighty fine prize.

I kinda really like this one. Here are the highlights:

1) made an arrow with a sentiment from Rad

2) gave it more definition by running the wide end of a marker along the arrow

3) made a pizza shape at the end of the arrow with the three "e's" lined up

4) broke up the remaining sentiments, and intentionally left some ink on neighboring letters in "awesome"; also intentionally made the "me" bleed off the bottom edge

5) thought the card needed more, so filled in the stars and drums with a light marker

6) still thought it needed more, so stamped the dots from Only You in overlapping green, mimicking the arrow shape

7) just a little more, used a green texture stamp in the bottom corner (not mounted on a block, just used the clear stamp with my fingers so there were no hard edges)

8) one last touch (crossing fingers that it doesn't ruin everything), a Tim Holtz distresser for the edges of the panel.

OK, done! If you haven't already, check out all the other arrow samples from the awesome Design Team. I can't wait to check out the gallery!

Thanks so much for looking!

-Kelly

Papertrey June Blog Hop - Golden Ticket

 Hi friends! Here's a quick one for the Papertrey Blog Hop featuring a touch of gold. I just discovered gold embossing on gold foil paper and I love it! Gives a real nice engraved look. I made a trophy card for Dad's Day with this technique that I'll have to post some day.

It's a golden ticket. Unfortunately this one is only good for a special birthday wish, and not a magical train ride to the North Pole.

(ETA: OK, so you all know my secret now ... I have never seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!)

Just the Ticket is used for the golden ticket and the tickets piled underneath (works as my foam tape and additional texture). A mat stack is used for the screen material, which worked out really well since it gives a matted area, but you can still see the background through it. The background is embossed on silver on a matte silver cardstock.

I'm happy to add this to my masculine card pile. 

Thanks for looking, and happy hopping!

-Kelly