A Grand Card for a Grand Father - The Paper Players #165

It's time to play Tic-Tac-Toe over at The Paper Players this week:

I went with a vertical line:  Birthday/Patterned Paper/Ribbon.

I've never made a card this large before, but considering it's my father's birthday and he has 4 children and 8 grandchildren, it offers lots of space for everyone to sign :o) AND he's much deserving of its grandeur.

I purchased the Circle of Love CTMH stamp set a long while back and find it hard to believe I've never used it until now because I think it's just gorgeous.  After stamping the image on watercolour paper, I used my Blending Pen with various inks to add colour to the feathers. I then added sparkles to certain areas using glitter sprinkled onto Liquid Glass (to give it demension). A few rhinestones and dotted Liquid Pearls finished off the peacock. 

I then heat embossed the sentiment as well as the blue background paper with the feather image offered in the set (I just realized I made another 'line' in the game!)  I assembled the card with a few layers of cs and added some ribbon using Glue Dots to make it wavy.  

I'm sure my dad will love it :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Paper: Canson watercolour paper; CTMH Magnigique paper packet

Stamps: CTMH Circle of Love & For Every Occasion

Inks: CTMH Pear, Garnett, Lagoon, Moonstruck; Versamark

Embellishments: Liquid Pearls; brown ribbon and rhinestones from my stash

Other: Stampendous Translucent & Blue Tinsel embossing powders; Martha Stewart glitters (Charoite/Aquamarine Crystal/Peridot/Lapis); CTMH Liquid Glass, Blending Pen; Heat tool; Glue Dots

The Paper Players #164

When I saw the great sketch that Sandy created for The Paper Players challenge this week, I instantly knew that I wanted to use my new Memory Box wreath die for the circle in the sketch:

Here's my take on the sketch:

I was excited to use this die for the first time, and thought this would be a great opportunity to finally make a Christmas card (I liked how turned out so much that I know I'll be using it over and over again for different occasions). I cut out the die five times using two different colours: CTMH's Kraft and Cocoa. I then added some red and white berries using Liquid Pearls and Stickles.  

I had some retired CTMH Christmas patterned paper as well as 'kraft borders' that I thought would compliment the wreath. Along with some distressing and sponging, I finished off the card with ribbon and gems from my stash.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Verve 'Ornamental Christmas'

Ink: CTMH New England Ivy

Paper: CTMH

Embellishments: gems and ribbon from my stash; Christmas Red Stickles; White Liquid Pearls; CTMH 'Color Ready Kraft Borders'

Other: Cuttlebug; Memory Box Bramble Circle die

Bling! - Dynamic Duos #71

I'm excited to be joining in with The Dynamic Duos colour challenge this week.

Here's the week's colour combo and dessert option (wet embossing):

I decided to go with a simple, elegant card.  I never would've imagined using kraft on an elegant card, but I think with the addition of all the clear gems (I just couldn't stop!) and shiny black embossing, the dazzle factor outweighed the kraft's plain factor (don't get me wrong, I love kraft!).  Nevertheless, I think the combination of the two balances out quite nicely.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH Kraft, White Daisy; Recollections Black
Stamps: Verve "Artful Elegance"
Other: Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; Heat tool; Gems from my stash

September Diva Dare

When I came across this card by Jennifer Shults, I was instantly inspired to participate in Verve's Diva Dare Contest!  The "Dare" is to come up with a card that is somehow inspired by the game of Tic-Tac-Toe.  Taking inspiration from Jen's card, I also went with a 'hugs and kisses' them.  

I love to quill, so when the contest guidelines suggested a grid as a possible tic-tac-toe element to use, I immediately knew I wanted to use the weaving technique that many quillers use, and weaved a grid-like background for my card.

(I think I'll hang on to this one til next Valentine's Day and give it to my hubby!)

Thanks for stopping by!


Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Verve 'Making A Statement'
Ink: CTMH Black
Paper: Recollections, CTMH Kraft
Other: CTMH Baker's Twine, glitter; clothespin & pearls from my stash; Sharpie fine tip marker (to draw game pieces)

Quilled Scaredy Cat - Freshly Made Sketches #103

I'm quickly getting addicted to playing along with Freshly Made Sketches :)  

Here's the sketch to follow, which I turned on its side:

It's Friday the 13th, so I thought it would be fun to post a Halloween card :o)  I decided to quill a black cat to use as the main focus.   Before I started, my plan was to step away from the traditional black and orange Halloween shades, but I gave up after going through piles of scraps of paper, looking for an alternate colour plan...to no avail. So, I resorted to a brand new pack of 6x6 Graphic 45 paper that I was anxious to finally use, and came up with this traditional-colour-themed card:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Paper: Black, yellow, purple quilling strips; Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells
Stamps: Inkadinkado
Embellishments: CTMH Haunted Assorted
Other:  Quilling tools; Quilling Book: "Thrilling Quilling" by E. Moad; Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; Black thin point sharpie marker (to draw stitches)

Freshly Made Sketches 102

I'm excited to be participating in my first Freshly Made Sketches card challenge since starting up this new blog!  

Here's my take on the sketch:

Whenever I've made Halloween cards in the past, I've always gravitated towards a scarier, busier-looking card, but for this 'fresh' challenge, I aimed for a cleaner, cuter look.  

The banner and web were cut from glittered, patterned paper by K & Company.  And no, that web was not cut with a die -I painstakingly cut it out with my trusty Cutter Bee.  I thought it would add more interest by allowing the background to show through. It still looked a little plain, so I used baker's twine to extend the web further.  I finished it off with a cute little spider button and sentiment, which I just may end up changing to reflect my nephew's birthday, which happens to be on Halloween day :o)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Paper:  K & Company
Stamps: CTMH 'Thriller'
Embellishments:  CTMH baker's twine; Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; spider button & ribbon from my stash
Other: Cutter Bee; 3-D foam tape

Mojo Monday 309 & The Paper Players 161

I had so much fun participating in last week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge, here I am again with another entry!  This week's sketch:

My card also qualifies for this week's fall-themed challenge at The Paper Players:

With the kids back in school, I'm considering summer officially over and I'm beginning to set my mind into 'fall' mode.  I figured, what better way to do this than to have some fun creating a fall-themed card:

When I was going through my stamp sets, Verve's circular Christmas ornament stamp ironically stood out as an obvious choice to use as a backdrop for the sentiment.  I started out with the intention of a creating a clean and simple card, but I quickly realized that I couldn't resist the urge to distress, especially with the idea in my mind of 'crinkled' autumn-coloured fallen leaves.  Speaking of which, to achieve a similar effect, I stamped and cut out various leaves in different colours, curled the ends, layered/scattered them on one of the panels, and then framed it with burlap ribbon.  I eventually managed to tie in some clean lines with the chevron patterned paper and circular sentiment. I finished it off with some felt pumpkin ribbon and some copper leaves to add a rustic feel.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Paper: scraps; CTMH Colonial White, Cocoa, Bamboo; Recollections patterned
Stamps: Verve "Amazing Wishes" & "Ornamental Christmas"; CTMH "Summer's Wave"
Inks: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Chocolate
Embellishments: Recollections pumpkin ribbon; CTMH burlap ribbon, copper leaves
Other:  Fiskars Circle Cutter