The ICING on the...

We're back with another CASology cue card for the week!

I wanted to go for the look of a cookie that was covered in royal icing. Those yummy, puffy cookies which are always so beautifully decorated are totally addictive :)

For my card, I die cut a butterfly from fun foam and 2 layers of cardstock and glued them together only along the body of the butterfly. I used Liquid Pearls in Diamond, Daffodil, and Royal Blue to "frost" my butterfly and give it some shine. I snuck a few foam adhesive dots behind the wings for some dimension. Easy peasy and I think I pulled off the cookie look.

There are some delicious looking cards from the DT and guest designer, so be sure to say hi!

Deidre Payne (that’s me)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Janet Ribet

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Rachel Bergfeld

Sherrie Mannion

Guest Designer: Lin B.

Sponsor: Serendipity Stamps

I'm also joining along with AAA Cards #87 Shiny Spring

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Deidre

Life's Landmarks with CASology

It's CASology Tuesday and our new cue card is: LANDMARK.

Blame it on the phase I'm in right now in my life, but I immediately 

thought about accomplishments as landmarks and a card to celebrate them.

I watercolored some white cardstock and die cut it using the Ellen Hutson Bold Blossoms dies. I arranged them on some vellum, heat embossed my sentiment, and coated the flowers in some Wink of Stella. Lots of white space with pops of color...and very little stamping lol!

The rest of the DT has some great inspiration for you this week too! And please say hi to our guest designer!

Deidre Payne (that’s me)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Rachel Bergfeld

Sherrie Mannion

Guest Designer: Wendy

I'm also playing along at AAA Cards #85 Oscar Red Carpet.

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

Deidre

See what's sprouting up at CASology

Hey hey :) What amazing VA weather we're having! The sun is shining, a few April showers, and plants are starting to bloom. I think CASology is bringing a perfectly timed challenge to you this week! The cue card is: SPROUT.

True to my against the grain ways, here's my card :) When I think sprout, I think kid, baby, little tike, etc. and goodness knows I have enough pregnant friends right now!

I thought a cute congrats-style card would be great. The heart die is from Simon Says Stamp...I love it! I used some decorate cardstock from DCWV, silver embossing powder, and a sentiment from Birthday Bits by Simon Says Stamp.

I think the interlocking hearts and tiny heart are a precious way to represent a new little "sprout" created from a loving couple :) 

Ok, ok enough mushy stuff lol! The rest of the DT has some cute and fun 

(even interactive) CAS cards to inspire you this week.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne (you're here)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey (on break)

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer: Tae Eun

Huge shout out to So Suzy Stamps for sponsoring our challenge this week, 

giving you a chance to win a sweet prize! Check out their online store.

Can't wait to see what springs up in our challenge gallery this week!

I'm also playing along at Addicted to CAS :"Inlaid Die(s)"

xoxo Deidre

Washi what we did at CASology!

One of my most fabulous friends: "Wiki tape?? Wacky tape?? Widget tape??"

Me: "No; washi tape (LOL)!"

Regardless of what you call it, CASology is gonna challenge you to use it...and give you some inspiration to crash your stash and finally use it to do more than hold dies in place or tape down your watercolor paper---guilty as charged :)

I'm an addict for anything floral and this Mondo Magnolia die from Essentials by Ellen Hutson is totally gorgeous!

This card was super easy to make too.

• Pick out 3 different washi tape patterns and use to cover 3 pieces of cardstock that you're going to die cut (1 for each layer of the flower).
• Run each layer through  your die cutting machine.
• Adhere the largest layer directly to the card base.
• Add 2 layers of foam tape to the middle layer.
• Add 4 layers of foam tape to the center. 

Dimension, dimension, dimension, but still CAS!! The sentiment is from the matching stamp set. I loved this mix of patterns!

Crafty tip:
Intentionally offset each row of tape as you add it to the paper so the design on each layer doesn't appear so matchy-matchy (best demonstrated here with the yellow and white chevron washi).

The DT has really "rolled out" some awesome inspirations that will surely "stick" with you! 

Head on over to their blogs and show them some love.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne (you're here)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kimono Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion
Tracey McNeely

Let's see your funkiest, prettiest, underused washi designs! Have a great day :)

I'm also playing along at Addicted to CAS 

xoxo Deidre

Watercolor for Freshly Made Sketches #226

Freshly Made Sketches has a new sketch up and I was so inspired by the floral element and decorative strip across the card that I had to jump in and play along. I was asked to make a birthday card for a friend's grandmother. Here's my take on the sketch and my final card:

I am so in love with these Essentials by Ellen dies and I thought they made the perfect birthday card! If you haven't used Peerless Watercolors...get you some! OMG! They blend beautifully and are so portable and easy to work with. 

To make this card:

1. Place the blossoms die cuts on the watercolor paper (no adhesive) and use plain water to trace the outside of them so you have an idea of where to drop in the color. Set those flowers aside.
2. Add multiple layers of watercolor paint, patiently letting them dry between layers....sike, using a heat tool to dry them :) This is really loose painting, dabbing the color from a larger round #10 brush into the wet areas.
3. Adhere the blossoms to their respective areas. Note: I didn't die cut any leaves, but by dropping in green between the blossoms, I was able to achieve the look of foliage...such a magician one can be with paint :)
4. Stamp and emboss the birthday sentiment on a strip of vellum and you're all set to mat it onto a card base. Oh yeah, it's me, so don't forget the splatters!

Look at the dimension you can create with just 2 layers of die cut watercolor paper!

 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by!

xoxo Deidre

Wild About Stripes

This is a really fast and furious post to make the deadline for the challenge blogs...my crazy pharmacy brain was working overtime to make the design happen LOL!

Thanks to the really fine brush tip on Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens, I was able to hand stripe the die cut "hello" from Lawn Fawn. Took me a minute, but totally worth the impact! The background stamp is from Impression Obession.

I'm playing along this week with Color Throwdown and CAS(E) this Sketch!

Thanks!

xoxo Deidre

Tag You're It! Clear Tags

It's been a great Christmas break, but back to the daily grind...and dusting the cobwebs off the creative centers in my brain :) I'm jumping in on the Tag You're It! challenge that provided a beautiful clear tag as inspiration. 

Here's my tag:

The flower and diagonal lines of the layout on the inspiration tag really caught my attention.

Twice is Nice at CASology!

Wowsers! Who would have guessed that my cards would win in back-to-back weeks over at that the Casology challenge blog?? There are lots of fabulous cards and talent playing along each week. Can anyone say "cloud nine" :) 

With that said, I get to guest design again this week (woo hoo!). This week's cue card: TOY. My take on it:

Design defined:
Plenty of white space and some masking help to frame your focal image.

*DISCLAIMER: Long post ahead, but lot of details lol :)