I was selected to be a Guest Designer for the CAS challenge at SCS. And I got the first week (good thing I like working under a tight deadline, lol). This week’s challenge is a sketch based on Denise’s card (cas83).

When I first saw her card, this leaf card came right to mind. I love it when tools make life easy! With the leaf die and impression plate, this card came together quickly. The layout is a little different from the original, but I think you can still see it: the 4-square leaf is pretty obvious, but the twine knot is in the same position as the ghost; and the sentiment under it all.

While I feel the first card qualifies as Clean and Simple, I know others may not. So I made another card. This one is a one-layer card. It was so fun to make (I love bright colors). I’ve had the arrow set since it came out but hadn’t gotten around to using it. Again, the sketch is there, though a little muddier this time. The circle with “10″ in it is in place of the ghost, and this time the sentiment is off-set to the left like the original. Even though there aren’t 4 arrows, I still feel they fit the sketch.

For the final card I still kept close to the layout, but it is flipped horizontally – the witch being the ghost and the sentiment hanging off the right-side instead of left.

I don’t think I’ve ever done more than 1 card for a specific challenge before. Great sketch Denise!

I know, Earth Day is months and months away, but I believe every day should be Earth Day!

The latest One-Layer Wednesday challenge (olw18) is all about trees.

About the only reason I purchased this set when it came out was for this tree image – I love it!

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I’m a little behind in my challenges. This week’s Clean and Simple challenge at SCS was an inspiration challenge: be inspired by the word “delicious” (cas82). Well, I haven’t had a proper Thanksgiving meal in years (mostly because I am not good at cooking and I don’t want to cook for only 4 people, 2 of whom are picky).

I’m sure it helped that this cute little turkey was sitting on my desk fresh from unpacking my latest PTI order I love this new set! It is so adorable! I think one of my favorite parts of the set is the “gobble gobble” sentiment.

To make the tail feathers, I started with wet watercolor paper. I dropped a few different colors of reinkers onto the paper and used a wide brush to blend them. I ended up with more uniform color than I wanted, but I still like it. I *was* going to add a bit of sparkly with some glimmer mist but my bottle is clogged and I’m not sure how to fix that.

Hrm. I’m just not too sure of this one. There is just something about it I don’t like. I tried different pattern paper, but this was definitely the better. I’m pretty sure the punched edge should be on the left, not the right (but stuck is stuck). But there is something else. Oh well – not only is stuck stuck, but done is done (I feel I say that a lot, lol).

I love that PTI came out with a Halloween Tiny Treat set, but the frame is a bit too overwhelming for me. Next time I will try it with muted colors and maybe no DSP.

I always need a few non-spooky halloween cards. This would be one of those.

I built this card around the sentiment, which I love. PTI recently released a perfect set – Embellishments – and die set to make this card quick and easy.

I hadn’t planned on embossing the top portion, but when I was done it was still just a bit to plain.

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Wow – I made it to the next level of the CAS DT search (one level farther than last time). The final challenge was “couples”. It could be interpreted pretty loosely (i.e., even two brads would count) – but once she tied the challenge into the search theme (high school), I knew I had to go with young love. And man, I think this is the quickest I’ve ever done a card – from conception to completion it was less than 1 hour!

Thanks for taking a peek!

The latest One-Layer Wednesday challenge is to use border stamps (olw17). I own a ton of wheels and don’t use them as often as I should.

Once I picked a wheel to use, the rest of the card fell together. Of course, after it was all colored I realized I should have added spots to the frog…but done is done – and it can’t be all bad…my youngest daughter has already claimed this for her own birthday (9 months from now, lol).

I guess practice does help – I am definitely feeling easier about making one-layer cards.

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The next round of competition for the CAS DT at SCS has begun – actually, it took me so long to come up with a card the round is almost over! The challenge was to use pattern paper. You would think with the amount of pattern paper I own and love that I would use it, but after looking at my cards – especially the clean-and-simple ones – it becomes obvious that I enjoy looking at the paper more than using it!

The optional part of the challenge was a theme – fashion. Um, didn’t get that worked in – unless you count the title of this post

My mom bought me this Halloween embossing folder years ago. I never used it because I wasn’t sure what to do with it. The other day I was rummaging through my scrap pile and found some cool paper that a great friend sent to me. The paper has a colored core with a black top layer. When you sand after embossing, the color shows through. A perfect use for this embossing folder!

I added a pop of orange – mostly because I don’t own any bright green ribbon, but I really like it. This card is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

The skeleton image from SU’s Scary Skeleton is normally doing a jig. I’m not sure why, but it definitely makes working with the image a bit more difficult. For this card, I preformed surgery. I stamped the image a few times and cut it all up and rearranged the bones in a somewhat more natural appearance (just don’t look too closely ). It was a pain, but I would probably do it again because I love this little dude!

The top bit of the card was stamped with a stripey pattern then I went back over some of the lines with a glittery gel pen and other lines with a glossy gel pen.

Thanks for taking a peek.