CAS-ual Fridays-Stretching Your Stamps and Dies

Welcome back!  I'm up on the Cas-ual Fridays blog today I'm sharing with you a card I made using some themed dies but used them in maybe an unexpected way.  Here's what I made:

So I was chatting with a friend and she was talking about her decision to buy the Ornament Tag Fri-Dies over the Acorn Fri-Dies... of course she wanted both, but sometimes you have to choose and I thought .. yeah... because it will soon be time to switch from autumn themed cards to Christmas so it made sense... and then I thought about the ornament die and thought... why not use it for an autumn themed card?!  Ornaments aren't just for Christmas!

I had planned on making a Thanksgiving card already and colored this little fox from the Bushy Tailed stamp set because I knew I was going to use him along with the Acorn Fri-Dies.   I colored him with Copics and texturized him using some terrycloth and blending solution (a quick photo tutorial regarding this is here if you missed it). 

Then when I decided on the ornament, I pulled out some pretty autumn colored papers from Pink & Main and cut out my pieces to create a shaker.  This is my favorite way to use the Ornament Tag Fri-Dies, but you don't have to make a shaker with it!  It's very versatile!  

And when I thought about what I'd fill my shaker with I decided on these pretty sequins from Paper Sweeties and thought a few acorns would be cute!  So I stamped some of the tiny acorns from the Autumn Blessings set in a sand colored ink and did a little no line coloring... cut them out and added them to my mix... I'll be honest.  I was a little worried about them possibly flipping over so I glued them in place.  I didn't want them to look glued in place or get covered so a couple I glued on top of a sequin and stuck one under my popup tape and glued that in place.  I love the way they look!

Then I die cut some leaves using the Acorn Fri-Dies out of some paper that was previously created using the Shaving Cream Technique (I'll think I'll share this oldie but goodie with you next post!) and some flowers from the Garden Fri-Dies were cut out of some previously watercolored paper).

And!  In the spirit of stretching your products, I used the Happy word die from the newly released Happy Hanukkah Fri-Dies and stamped and embossed the Thanksgiving from the Autumn Blessings stamp set to build my sentiment.

And as a side note... she did end up getting both...lol!

One more look:

I'm playing along with the Wednesday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp which is Thanks/Thanksgiving this week!

Hope you've enjoyed your stop today!  And hope I've inspired you to look at some of your stash in a different way!  Should you decide to shop, here's this for you:

And be sure to stay connected with Cas-ual Fridays on social media!

You Are One Cool Chick!

Hello!  Today I'm playing along with a couple challenges... over at Paper Smooches you'll find a gorgeous Mood Board Challenge for November and Word Art Wednesday is Anything Goes!  I've used some pretty paper from Pink & Main's Pumpkin Spice Paper Pad and lots of stamps and dies from Paper Smooches as well as that cool Stitched Speech Bubble from Pretty Pink Posh to make this cute autumn themed card.

I was inspired by the autumn feel of the mood board including the colors and the leaves.  I inserted an owl instead of a fox.. because .. well... I love owls!

I'm linking up to the 30 Day Coloring Challenge over at The Daily Marker too!  I colored this cutie pie from the My Peeps stamp set over at PS with my Copics and then some extra detail using my Prismacolor Pencils.  And I love to add some liquid glass to their eyes.  

Kim has SO many adorable owls in her shop... and I own quite a few of the sets that have them.  Paper Smooches stamps are perfect when you want to sit down and color with lots of room to do some shading and other techniques... love love love these stamps!  This set is adorable with lots of different birds and some really cute sentiments...like this one:

I love to keep my cards kind of open so when I decide who I'll give them to I can stamp the inside with something more specific... or not... could just be a quick hello!  And don't you love those leaves from the Leaves 2 Dies??  I love that I can mix and match the inside and outside outline.  

And the same for this tree from the Summer Tree Die set... ha!  Summer... it's good for almost any season!  And those Curly Clouds... so sweet!  Perfect to bring out the little bit of blue in that gorgeous plaid!

And there it is...lol!  This was a fun one to make today... hope you'll play along with these challenges!

Come back tomorrow for some more Fall goodness!

25 Days of Christmas Tags Inspiration - Tenia Nelson

If you've never heard of the awesome annual 25 Days of Christmas Tags that goes on over at Tracey McNeely's In My Creative Opinion Blog then you are gonna thank me!  It's a month long fountain of inspiration with tons of sponsors and tons of designers sharing some fabulous creations with lots of chances to win prizes!

I was inspired for this one by Tenia Nelson's beautiful tag for Day 3... the beautiful non-traditional colors (although mine are different, they are nontraditional), the awesome tree ring background (although mine is hard to see...lol), and the gold on black sentiment all caught my attention.

I started by coloring up this beautiful digital image from the Christmas Cheer set from Graciellie Design.  It is so much fun to color Gracie's images.  They have enough detail to make them beautiful even with a quick color but enough space to make them your own when you wish to.  I cut it out and added a little glitter and some liquid glass.

I cut the largest Scallop Tag from Cas-ual Fridays and ink blended it with Wilted Violet and Shaded Lilac distress inks.  Next I used the Tree Rings stencil from Newton's Nook to apply some Decofoil Transfer Gel and set it aside to dry.  Once it was dry, I ran it through my Minc machine with some gorgeous Gina K Designs Gold Sequins foil (my fave!).  I popped up my image and added it to the tag.

Then instead of stamping and embossing my sentiment, I decided to use the Merry word die from the CAS-ual Fridays Merry Christmas Fri-Dies and cut it from gold glitter paper and added it to a black banner cut with a CDD Banner Die.  I didn't want to cover up that gorgeous digi so I attached the Merry at an angle and tucked the banner underneath the image.  A few gold sequins and some pretty purple ribbon.

Thanks for stopping!  You should definitely check out this challenge over at the In My Creative Opinion Blog!  And please do check out Tenia's beautiful creation here!  Then hop around and get inspired and maybe even play along!

And I'm also playing along with the Monday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp which is Create Your Own Background!  That I did!  Even if it is just peeking out here and there...lol!

Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - Joy Clair!

I'm up on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog today and playing along with a challenge over at Joy Clair Stamps!  Hope you'll hop on over there to check out the details!  Here's a sneak peek:

The Cutting Cafe-Thankful Inspiration!

Welcome to some Cutting Cafe Inspiration!  Today we're using a couple Printable Stamp Sets from the Cutting Cafe, the So Thankful Circle Word Set and the Thanksgiving Day Huge Word Circle Set.  I'm using the So Thankful set today!

I started with some more printable paper from Cute N Crafty Mommy shop on Etsy.  Love the texture that burlap print paper gives!  I combined it with some pretty patterned paper from Prima.  Love the contrast of the two papers together!  I printed one of the circle sentiment pages from the set and cut out my favorite sentiment with a scalloped circle die and then two more circles to fit in the center of the large circle.

Then I cut a bunch of leaves from the 3D Pumpkin File... love these leaves because they have stitching on them.  It takes a while for my Cricut to cut out a bunch, but I just set them to cut and went about my business until it was done.  After they were cut, I spritzed them with water and then added some watercolors using Prima Metallic Accents and set them aside to dry.  And don't think I made enough so I'd have extras to use on other projects!

And I've been participating in Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge!  I have colored every day, but missed sharing one day because I had what I was coloring on a card that I couldn't share yet before I remembered to take a photo...lol!  These cuties from the From Owl of Us clear stamp set from The Cutting Cafe Shop were colored with Copics the other day and today I added some shading and detail with my Prisma colored pencils... a page from Kathy's book and I've fallen in love with this technique!  She said it was addicting and it is!!  So I'm linking this one up over at Kathy's blog for today's coloring.

Look at the shimmer on those leaves... love it!

I'm also playing along with the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 457!  It's a beautiful inspiration photo:

Just love this fun way to add a beautiful sentiment to a card!  You should definitely try out these printable sets and there are lots of other cool printables in the CC shop that have circle sentiments too!

Now be sure to check out what all of my teamies have made for you using these printable stamps!  Head on over to the Cutting Cafe Blog; comment there for a chance to win three sets of your choice; and then check out what everyone has created!

And don't forget about this:

25 Days of Christmas Tags 2018 - Paper Sweeties!

You may or may not be familiar with Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  Each year in November, this event begins and there are tons of sponsors and prizes and lots of fun and inspiration!  Each day a sponsor is featured on the blog and today it's Paper Sweeties turn!

Paper Sweeties is a sponsor for this event and is offering up a $25 gift certificate to one lucky winner!   There are lots of ways to gain chances to win prizes... you can comment at Tracey's blog and along the way when you hop and see what each of the sponsors' design teams have created for you and you can play along-create a tag inspired by one that you see along the way while you hop and link up!  You can check out all of the ways to win and the rules at Tracey's In My Creative Opinion blog post here!

Now.. let's see what I've created for you today:

If you come here often you know that I love coffee, coffee cups, cocoa, even tea sometimes.. I make sun tea on a regular basis.  I mean.. I live in Arizona so there is lots of energy for said beverage!  It will be no surprise to you the theme I used for my tags... although it may surprise you that it's not coffee...lol!

I started with the tag from the For You Sweet Cuts.  It's a great sized stitched tag, perfect on a card or by itself.  I added some Nuvo drops in red, green and white in a diagonal pattern across the tag.  Then I stamped, die cut and colored the cups from the You Warm My Heart stamp set.

I added some "marshmallows" to the cocoa with some white Nuvo drops and added the cups to the edge of the tag using varying thicknesses of popup tape.

I stamped, colored and cut the holly from the Meet Me Under The Mistletoe set and then I built my sentiment... I stamped the Fa La La in Versamark and heat embossed it... that's a little sneaky peek for you... and then I stamped the "but first" from part of a sentiment from the But First, Coffee stamp set and the Cocoa is from the same set.

I decided another in some non-traditional colors was in order:

I love it in these colors!  Quite cool.. makes me feel like I might need some hot cocoa!

And those cups... they're sweet in any color!  I love my little marshmallows!

Oh my... I think you're gonna love what's coming in this month's release....

Here's another peek at both!  

I'm playing along with the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge which is always Anything Goes with an optional twist!  This week's twist is Hot Beverage!

Hope I've inspired you!  And maybe you can use something here to create and link up your own tag!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to check out what all of my teamies have created for your viewing pleasure today... there is a lot of awesome to be seen!

And take a look at this!

These are the sponsors!  Pretty cool, huh??  Good luck!

For You Sweet Cut	Meet Me Under the Mistletoe Stamp Set	Meet Me Under the Mistletoe	You Warm My Heart Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties	You Warm My Heart Sweet Cuts - Paper Sweeties
but first, Coffee - Paper Sweeties	Watermelon Seam Binding - Paper Sweeties	Robin Egg Seam Binding - Paper Sweeties	Green Apple Seam Binding - Paper Sweeties	Strawberry Seam Binding - Paper Sweeties
Bubblegum Sequins - Paper Sweeties	Paper Sweeties - Strawberry Sequins