V-Day at CASology

I'm sure you've already finished your Valentine's Day cards and got them in the mail...said no cardmaker ever :) Well the CASology team has some fabulous inspirations for you this week to help you get them all done.

I love the look of subway art and couldn't resist making a "red lip" using this awesome stamp from Lil' Inker Designs! The sentiments and hearts come from Lil' Inker Designs, Concord and 9th, Paper Smooches, and Hero Arts.

To achieve the look:

1. Shuffle through all your stamps to collect different fonts, styles, etc to pull off the subway art look.
2. Stamp them all on little scraps and cut them out. You can move them around in your layout and see how they'll fit before actually stamping.
3. Stamp and heat emboss your focal point (the lips are stamped with clear Versa Mark ink then embossed with Ranger red embossing powder).
4. Stamp the lips again on masking paper (or a large sticky note like I did) and press into place.
5. Stamp your sentiments based on your layout.

 *I added Black Soot Distress Glitter as a border on the left side for a little extra dose of fabulous :)

Hop over to the other CASology Design Team members' blogs and check out
their LOVE-ly inspirations and our Guest Designer's card this week :)

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne (already here)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer: Lindsey (Bashful Blogging)

 How sweet is it that Uniko Studio is sponsoring our challenge this week?!
I hope you'll show us some love and play along :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I love to read your comments and answer any questions!

xoxo Deidre

CASology is ADORE-able!

Don't you just love Tuesday mornings?! The CASology team brings you a
new cue card this week and some great inspiration.

This was my first time EVER (even though this was version 3 of the card lol) attempting no line coloring with Copic markers. I stamped the world image from the Hero Arts Operation Write Home Epic Love stamp set in Antique Linen Distress Ink first. It totally disappeared as I brought in the green and blue Copics. I then cut out the circle by hand and on to the scary part...slapping the "you" die on top of my colored image and praying that it cut how I envisioned it in my head :)

Rookie Tips (take it from me):

1. Use second generation stamping if you're using light colors like I did to make it really "no line". Hence a few versions :)
2. Definitely use some washi tape to hold your die in place. This is too important to chance it, even with a magnetic spacer.
3. Go slow removing the bits and pieces from your die and die cutting machine so you don't have to go on a scavenger hunt in your carpet like I did, lol!

And you know I had to add some sparkle to my card using my clear Wink of Stella pen! I loved this mostly neutral color scheme and how no line coloring really made for a softer look.

Hop over to the CASology Design Team members' blogs and their inspirations
and see what an "adore"-able card our Guest Designer created this week :)

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne (already here)
Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jacquie Southas
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Sherrie Mannion
Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer: Jenny (Crafting in the Country)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I love to read your comments and answer any questions!

xoxo Deidre

CASology 180: Open

This week at the CASology challenge blog, we're hoping to spark some interest 

with the cue card: OPEN. What a...well...open concept :)

I knew I wanted to stamp into the open space, but how to add interest was the challenge. 

I took my swivel tip X-Acto blade (this tool is in regular rotation for me) 

and cut the heart out...eek, that doesn't sound nice lol. 

I popped up the entire card front and stamped the sentiment 

on some red cardstock to layer behind the open heart. 

I really like the depth it created on this CAS design.

If you've followed my cards, then the dotted coloring technique 

on this cow should look familiar :) The body of the cow is colored

using W1 and I used a few Es to color the spots. I love how the dots 

give some texture that's a bit against the grain of regular coloring. 

R-colored hearts finished with some Star Dust Stickles (another fave) 

and you have a cutie patootie CAS card. 

Check out the other CASology Design Team members' blogs and their inspirations
and see what our Guest Designer created this week:

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne (already here)
Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jacquie Southas
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Sherrie Mannion
Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer: Rachel (Rachel's Card Corner)

I'm also playing along at the CAS(E) this Sketch! blog :) This week's sketch 

inspired my layout :)

Thanks for stopping by and get working on your "open" card :)

Deidre

Heart of Gold for CASology

What an exciting week! My mommie visited for a few days, got some art journaling done, created cards for challenges, received an honorable mention and a feature for two of my creations, had my last appointment to finish my latest tattoo, traveled to DC for a couple of days, and still managed to go to work...whew!

I'm playing along today over at the CASology challenge blog. I was super inspired by Sandy Allnook's Go for the Gold series and really wanted to incorporate something shiny and gold into my creation for this challenge.  The cue card:

What a broad concept for me, but yes, I did take the lovey dovey road :) Here's my final card.