I choo choo choose you

The Inkspirational challenge #107 is all about vehicles.
So for my card I used the Create a smile stampset called Whimsical wheels to stamp the locomotive and caboose and the sentiment.
The little clouds are actually the rocks from Lawn Fawn's Critters from the past..ssst don't tell anyone ;-)...

I stamped the images with StazOn so I could use Distress inks to watercolor them on Schut 300grams Hotpressed smooth watercolor paper.
(I've used mermaid lagoon, mustard seed, mixed them to get a green and some weathered wood for the clouds) I wanted to keep the number of colors down to a minimum for a tranquil card.
The caboose is filled with glittery nuggets, I made those with Wow! melt-it powder and Wow! embossing powder, used gluedots to adhere them.
The sentiment is stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Zing white embossing powder. Sadly I

don't have a super fine white powder yet. The sentiment is still legible, but I would have liked it to be more detailed.

Mounted the sentiment strip with foamtape and added a strip of black to the cardbase as my watercolorpaper paenls are always slightly narrower than the bases.

Also mounted the watercolor panel with foamtape.

For more information on the Inkpsirational challenge, see this

Real friends hear what you're NOT saying

Or words to that extend is the sentiment on that card, depicting a dragon and a bird who are friends in my imagination ;-)
It's foe the Less is More Challenge for St. George's day: Saints, Dragons and Heroes.

I stamped the Wild Rose studio stamp (dragon and bird cl488) in Memento Tuxedo black in and coloured him with Spectrum Noir and Copic markers.
The sentiment is from Joy! Crafts (6410/0010) and I stamped it in Versafine black ink.
I used Neenah Solar white cardstock to make the front panel and adhered it with tape runner, so it looks like a one layer card but the markers won't show on the inside.

For more information on the Less is More Challenge, see this

You're dino-mite!

The Cas Colours & Skaetches #170 is a colour challenge.

For my card I used the sentiment from Lawn Fawn critters from the past and the Marianne design die set Col 1400. I got it this afternoon on purpose for this card, well I wanted it for a while, but it just made sense now..lol.

I used dark brown ( for the choclate chip) for the eyes, spots and spine and toenails, pink for one and blue for the other dinosaur.

To ground them  I sponged on Ground Espresso from Distress inks in a disorderly fashion, splodgy on purpose so with would look like a dust trail (if that's what they call it), you know those big clouds of dust/sand you see in Westerns ;-).

Mounted the critters with foamtape, it's a 6"x6" inch card as the critters are big and I wanted loads of empty CAS space.



For more information on the Cas Colours & Sketches Challenge, see this

For Mama

The Wednesday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp is: make it girlie with Hero Arts.

Now I'm not a frilly, lace, ribbon kinda girlie girl, so this was quite challenging for me.
So instead I made my stamp girlie by giving it lashes and a bow.

The elephants are from Hero Arts  (lil hoot) and I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo black ink, the bow is from Lawn Fawn (monster mash) and the sentiment is from Crealies (tekst & zo nrD09) also stamped in Memento tuxedo black. The lashes are just made with a black Sharpie.

I stamped the images on Neenah solar white, so I could color it with my Spectrum Noir markers.
I used a stitched outlined die ( Marianne design cr1360), mounted it with a double layer of foamtape.
The cardbase I adorned with a Hero arts stamp (stamp it floral cm001 with little gemstones I used up already lol and Ranger dye inks:  grape soda,wild orchid and pink gumball) I placed three purple rhinestones flower for extra glamour and a bit of Wink of Stella on the bow. 

See usually I would stamp the scene in a corner and leave the rest empty as a true Cas addict, but I went all out for the SSS Wednesday Challenge haha..

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this

Thank you 3 compartment shaker card

This card is for the Sparkle and Shine challenge, where the inspiration comes from the challenge photo.

To make the card I started with ehat embossing the sentiment from Technique Tuesday and then diecut the Simon Says Stamp single roses from the lilac cardpanel and again from white cardstock.
I then attached acetate with taperunner and mounted a single layer of foamtape, usually I do two rows, but I wanted a slender card.
I placed all kinds of (PPP) sequins in the openings, I made sure to separate the three

roses, so I could choose different colors from the challenge photo. 
I attached another piece of acetate to close the shaker, I find this easier than trying to fit the cardbase onto open shaker compartments, with all the static and wobbling, sequins fly off quickly, trust me I've found out the hard way ;-)

I kept the back of the roses white so the sequins would show more, but they all kind off sagged to the bottom :-(
I attached the white diecuts with gluestick.
Homemade enameldot next to the sentiment.

For more information on the Sparkle and Shine Challenge. see this

Window shaker card what's kraken?

For the Lawnscaping challenge #128 we were given a sketch.

I made a see through shaker card, meaning the image is on the inside of the card and the shaker bit is see through to the inside, so acetate on both sides.

For my card I used the Lawn Fawn Loveable legends stampset. 

I started my card by diecutting the rounded window from shimmery blue cardstock and the cardbase (front flap only)
I stamped the kraken with Memento tuxedo black on the little negative bit of the diecut as I could tape this to the inside flap of the card without any markers bleeding through the back of the card.
I stamped the sentiment and bubble, that should resemble the two lines of the sketch, with Versafine and heat embossed them with Zing superfine white embossing powder.

I colored the kraken with Spectrum  Noir markers and judging from the photo I should have waited a little bit longer and let it dry a bit more before the photos...I didn't  because I got so excited and wanted to share right away lol...;-).

On the back of the blue card I used taperunner to adhere one of the acetate pieces and one layer of foamtape, I didn't want a really bulky shaker.
I then proceeded to lay each sequin with the right side down, I wanted all the cupped sides facing the front...went well until I started to peel off the foam..they all went flying :-( I fixed some of them and then placed the second piece of acetate to close the shaker.
I put tape runner (ATG gun stuff is really sticky) and tried to align as best as I could the blue and white parts, almost nailed it haha, ah well it's what handmade is all about...once it's stuck, it's stuck.
I placed the colored piece on the inside of the card also with taperunner.

I made the kraken orange as it would really pop against the blue sea. And I chose al kinds of blue sequins, some clear, some silver and teal.
The shaker window is slightly offset to the middle as in the sketch, I couldn't make it smaller as I wanted the whole kraken to show, but if I had these pierced border ones in round I might have used those as kind of a porthole.



For more information on the LawnScaping challenge, see this

Update May 1st:

Golden Butterfly beauty

Yesterday, whilst working on the other butterfly beauty card (see below) I was wondering how it would look embossed in different gold tones (Wow! metallic copper, metallic brass, pearl gold sparkle and Papermania gold)
It was 11 p.m. and I didn't want to make the noise with my heat gun, I  have downstairs neighbours.
Today at 11 a.m. I thought it would be OK. ;-)
I used Versamark to stamp all the Simon Says Stamp butterflies and just did one color at the time so not to mix the powders, but also to get the overlay feeling. The metallics

being opaque gives a very different look than the rainbow one and I had to think more carefully about which colors to place where.

Same Congratulations die cut, also Simon Says Stamp with Stick-it on the back.
The enamel dots are also Wow! embossing powder (cha cha cha with Melt-it powder).
I had some in that pearl gold sparkle, but it was all too samey.
On the inside I wanted to emboss "tying the knot" from the Simon Says Stamp stampset

"congratulations" but I decided against it, as this gold colored one could also be an anniversary (50 years? I don't know) or being employed for so long etc...But any congrats occasion would work ofcourse.

My cat Tjeerd was a good little helper, first when I was trying ot photograph the card, then when I opened the drawer where I keep the envelopes and giftwrap and handmade stickers etc...well I say helping....but he's so cute, you just have to smile, because he's purring so loud it's impossible to be mad at him ;-) I moved him to a box now and he's sleeping...lol

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this.

card I made and entered yesterday: