clair087

Hello Friends! I couldn't resist. Back again today with another CAS Challenge: Geometric Design! Who would have thought I'd have so much fun with clean and simple cards! Over the last few days, we've been covered in a thick fog, and a blanket of the most magical, enchanting hoar frost. Each day the layers build up and today I see out my window the most beautiful white trees and crystals hanging off our twinkly lights. It really does look like a winter wonderland! Which is a perfect inspiration for my card today! For today's card, I wanted to create a focal point, and then use a geometric, repeating design to add a little more interest. I started this card by adding a super glittery, sparkly wood snowflake to the center. I used Gold embossing powder , mixed with Silver Halo glitter  (it is no longer available on SB.com, but you can find it here ). It creates this ultra-vintage-y sparkle that is simply irresistible! Atop that, I layered a white-embossed snowflake, decke...

Hello Friends! Happy Sunday-Funday! Happy to be popping in with my latest CAS Challenge card! I'm so pleased with this one, even though I think it's bordering a little on the not so clean and simple lines...What do you think? It's a big challenge for me, so this is definitely still CAS compared to my other cards. CAS kicked up a notch? Is that even a thing? But what I love the most, is that even with a little texture, it's still a very mail-able card. And have you seen the ultra thin pop-up adhesives?? They would make this card even thinner. I can't remember the manufacturer, but if you know what I'm talking about, please share it in the comments! To start today's card, I used a cardstock base, but quickly decided I wanted a more ethereal look to this card, and die-cut an ever-so-slightly larger scalloped base out of vellum to lay over-top. The technique I've used today, is a quick and easy way to make your stencils really work some mileage for you! Usin...

Hello Friends! I mentioned I'd be back with the beautiful Altenew alphas. This time around with a sparkly, glittery take, that features a negative inlay and a fabulous way to stretch these fantastic dies! To start my card, I used the pretty Caps Bold alpha dies to create a negative cut-out of my focal point.  I've been loving the word 'joy' and I've chosen it as my go-to for this Season's cards. You'll see a few more cards with it yet to come. ______________________________________________________________________ TIP: FAUX INLAY LETTERING To accentuate the negative die-cuts, and create the look of inlay lettering, rather than actually embossing each letter, you can use a cardstock base covered with a sticky double-sided adhesive sheet . For a two-tone look, use a piece of cardstock to cover the lower portion of the now-sticky paper, as you apply the embossing powder.  Then simply add a mixture of gold, pink, white and glittered embossing powders to create ...

As much happiness as colorful holiday cards bring me, there is just something about this color combo. The connection to Christmas is as instant as hearing Christmas carols on the radio, or smelling gingerbread!  So today, I have two little shares using this traditional palette and a few tips on how to stretch your dies! ____________________________________________________________________ TIP: STITCHED DIES First up,  I have a snowflake tag, cut with PTI's Stitched Snowflake die . I love that the holes are already pre-cut! I usually add a little bit of string or thin wire (if using as an ornament) and it's all set to go! This makes your "stitched" dies double as a pretty fine base for tags or ornaments! ____________________________________________________________________ To decorate my tag, I used a vellum oval, embossing tiny 'snow' with Altenew's Floral Frame stamp .   I then added a die-cut sentiment and banner (both from my stash, but similar here and ...

Hey everybody! Can you believe it's exactly one month until Christmas?! It's approaching quickly and I still have a heap of cards and oodles of ideas to share with you before then!  Today I'm sharing a little CAS duo - and a card that was inspired by  PTI's November Blog Hop . I've been working a lot on paring down the layers over the years. And while I'm not quite ready to give up the intricate cards just yet, I am trying to challenge myself to step outside the box a little. So far so good :)  For today's challenge, I wanted to focus on a single layer background. Plain cardstock seemed a little too vanilla, so I decided to make a dotted and festive one instead! I find this to be such a fun and relaxing technique. And the tools are so simple: just a stencil, an ink blender and some ink. I love the satisfaction I get when I peel back that stencil and reveal whats hiding beneath. It makes me smile every time! For this background, I used a polka dot stencil ( h...

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a splendid Thanksgiving, enjoyed with family and friends, and all the turkey you can eat! Even though North of the border, our Thanksgiving tradition falls a lot earlier, we still partake in one of the biggest shopping days of the year, so I've compiled below a little list (it was hard , but I narrowed it down to ONLY 4 shoppes) of my favorite BFS happening through the weekend!  And I'm sure, just like me, after all the shopping frenzy, you might need some peace and quiet in your life, and what better than some alone time with Copics and this Beautiful Bouquet floral stamp!  I also thought it would be fun to start a new card series on the blog: Delicate.  I've been straying a little from this style. So this is my way of getting back to it and sharing a few soft + feminine cards with you all.  To start this card, I first stamped the beautiful floral and embossed it in silver. I knew I would eventually add silver glittered accents, s...

Gingerbread is one of our favorite cookie flavors. We love it so much around here, that it's a staple year-round! A few might say it's plain or boring, or only to be used for making delicious holiday decor. I say, gingerbread can be crazy flavorful, soft, and sooo yummy! While I still lived in Europe, we often enjoyed Lebkuchen, which is a gingerbread of sorts, but a much more complex and flavorful version (imho). I have tried, to no avail, to get the recipe right, so if any of you happen to have one kicking around...I beg you....Please, please share it with me!  For now, though, I'll just share this little tribute to my favorite cookie. Oh and a lovely textured background, inspired by Holiday icing.  To start my little card today, I used a circle stencil to ink up the focal background of my card, in colors of Aqua Mist and Spring Rain .  ______________________________________________________________________                  TI...

Happy hump-day! Today I'm back with the second post in my Stretch Your Stamps Series, focusing on how to use non-Holiday stamps for the Holidays! We all have a stamp or two we absolutely love, and kind of feel a little sad to put away when the season is upon us. But I'm here to say, you don't have to! With a few tweaks, most stamps transition pretty well into many seasons. My floral stamp is a perfect example! I picked up this sweet little stamp from PTI's Buy it Live event a little while back, and I've been wanting to use it for months! When I finally cracked it open, I realized, a little bit of tweaking might be in order to make it 'work' with the current season.  To start this card, I first eyeballed where my floral cluster would be, and then stamped the top sentiment, in Aqua Mist using Altenew's Modern Deer stamp set.   I then started working on my floral cluster. In order to make it seasonally appropriate I knew I would need to do a couple of thi...

Happy Tuesday! It has been a rather chilly few days, and while I won't be enjoying the freeze outside, I certainly intend to do so inside. And what better way than by being surrounded by my favorite stamps, papers and inks?  Today I'm super excited to share this paper pieced card! Paper piecing is one of my absolutely favorite techniques, but I seldom do it. True - it's a bit tedious, but the result is so, SO fun! And it has the ability to completely transforms the look of stamps you already have. Which is the reason it's a feature in today's Stretch Your Stamps series! To start this card, I used various snowflake stamps to create a colorful background. I used colors of Scarlet Jewel, Smokey Shadow, Classic Kraft, Saffron Spice, Pale Peony, Terracotta Tile and Ocean Tides .  For all the winter attire, I used a TCM stamp that is no longer available, but I loooove this one !! In order to add all the little parts in various colors and patterns, I stamped and heat embo...