Merry Muse

Dies: Small Circle Burst, Alphabet Soup (Memory Box)

Font:  Bookman Old Style Bold Italic

Inspired by Marion Vagg at Muse this week, I chose to concentrate on the large grey sentiment & the sun rays.  This MB die is the closest I possess to sun rays & I nearly lost my sanity fitting all those tiny dots; not to be undertaken lightly!

 

 The alphabet soup letters are cute but terribly hard to handle & line up - as you can see.

 

Apologies for the more-dreadfull-than-usual phot, had to use my tablet as the camera has had a nasty accident.

Muse 64 / CFC131

Stamps: Geometric Style 2 (Clearly Besotted); It's Your Day (HA)

Ink: Tangelo, Dandelion (Memento); Tumbled Glass (Ranger Distress)

Dies: Lovely Layers (PTI); Borders 1 (PS)

Mojo has been a bit of a no-show this week.  This was inspired by Marion Vagg at Muse, & fits the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge too.

I discovered there is definitely an order to doing inlaid die-cuts.  Start at the back!

As usual, dithered over the sentiment.  Got as far as mounting on sticky pads before I made up my mind.  Still not convinced...  Who said CAS cards are easy?

Linking to:
Muse: Challenge #64
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC131 ~Three Thirds

Get your party on & manage your scraps



Stamps: Headline Alphabet (PTI)

Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine)

Dies: Balloons (PS); Headline Alpha (PTI)

Other: Diamond Stickles (Ranger); Anita's 3D Gloss

Pheww.  This has required some patience!  The PARTY is 5 layers thick & after cutting I had to adhere them all very carefully.  Then applied gloss.  Waited for gloss to dry.  When dry, realised had applied gloss too thick & it was as wrinkly as... a wrinkly thing.  Applied Diamond Stickles to hide the wrinkles (wish that worked on me!).  Waited for stickles to dry.  Not quite long enough.  Smudged stickles, had to re-apply.  When stickles dry, put on more gloss.  Back in the airing cupboard.  Finally finish the card & take a picture, you can barely see the glitter, & the gloss is invisible.  But it looks great IRL, pinkie promise!

 

It is almost a reverse of the Muse card - bold black letters with a splash of colour.

 

Linking to:
The Card Concept: Challenge #6 - Create a Birthday Card
Less is More: Week 164 ~ Use 3 of Something
Papertrey Ink: March 2014 Blog Hop Challenge (not until 25th)
Muse Card Club: Muse Challenge #59
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Simon Says Glitter It

No new sheets of cardstock were harmed during the production of the above card.  All the die-cuts were cut from scrap.  Tiny pieces that should perhaps have gone in the bin.  But they were saved thanks to my new scrap management system:

 



 

 A swing file box that sits neatly on my desk, made from a few old boxes, paper & bamboo skewers.  I have another one the same for all my neutral scraps.  They work a treat - my desk has never been tidier.

How old?

Dies: Parker Alphabet (Memory Box)

Font: Aharoni

OK, so your son gets invited to a party.  You don't really know the child very well.  Your son is less than forthcoming about his interests.  As for present ideas?  Hopeless.  So what on earth can you put on a card to make it personal?

And then you see this week's Muse inspiration, & everything suddenly falls into place!  (With a little Tagxedo help on the way).  A few scraps of coloured card & a bit of glossy accents, you're away.

And then you can't stop at just a card... (Well, actually, you find a use for the piece of card that went through the printer at the wrong angle & you were originally going to throw away).

Die: By the Numbers (MFT)

I think I'll make a stash of these to keep on stand-by.  But not all with Ewan's name.  Obviously.  We don't know that many Ewans.

Linking to:
Muse: Muse Challenge #51

Muse Challenge #34

The children are back at school, the village fete is done & dusted & the temperature is a good 10 degrees cooler than it was last week, so I have returned to my craft room.  Hurrah!

Stamps: Bitty Banners (WM); Christmas Tags (Elzybells)

Ink: White Pigment (WPlus9)

Die: Impression Obsession

This was inspired by Therese's card over at Muse this week. 

 

 

I reversed the colour combo, & used trees in place of her wooden houses.  I did toy with a tag, but couldn't make it work for me.

I tried this with white embossing at first, but prefer the softer contrast that the white ink gives.  This WPlus9 is the best white ink I have found, but being pigment I still have trouble stamping really fine detail.  You can see a bit of the 'squashed' effect on the sentiment - a build up of ink at the edges of the letters, less in the middle, where it should be.  I guess I need more practise!  Any tips for improving on this would be gratefully received.

 

Linking to:

MUSE: Muse Challenge #34

Pencil thanks

Stamps: Star Prints, Just a Note (PTI)

Ink: too many to mention! (Memento)

Other: 3/8" corner chomper

I was inspired by the pencils on Laurie's MUSE card this week, which also gave a very timely reminder for teachers' thank yous.  We don't need them quite as soon here in the UK - not until the middle of July - but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I used the same idea as for this card, with closer spacings.  The in between colours were created by inking up the stamp with 2 colours before applying to the paper.

Have realised now that as these pencils are hexagonal in x-section, I can also enter it into CASology.

 

Linking to:

Muse: Challenge #16

Casology: Week 43 ~ Hexagon

Addicted to CAS: ATCAS #12 ~ Rainbow

Long lost monster card

Stamps: Little Monster (Woodware); Smile (Elzybells)

Ink: Bahama Blue (Memento)
Other: 1.5 & 1.75" circle punches; green corner chomper

Card: from my stash, unknown

When I saw Marion Vagg's Muse card this week, I thought straight away of a card I made last year.  I couldn't find it on my blog & realised that it had never been posted (I suspect because it was a boy version of this card).  Hurray.  I can enter it in this week's competition.

 

Linking to:

Muse: Muse Challenge #9

Many Happy Returns

Stamps: Teeny Trees (WM); Big Deal Alphabet (SU)

Ink: Bahama Blue, Tangelo, Dandelion, Morocco (Memento)

Font: Zag, Coolvetica, Ecuyer Dax

Other: Citrus Stack (DCWV); corner chompers; unknown ribbon

Good morning folks.  I woke up this morning inspired.  That hasn't happened in ages, so thank you Muse & Marion Vagg:

 

 

I was most inspired by the colour scheme, & the ribbons behind the main image give a nod to the stripes of washi on Marion's card.

 

So I have been shut away in my craft room making hay while the sun shines.

The candles are the 'l' from the alphabet set (the lighter ones are stamped off Bahama Blue), & the flames are graduated sizes of tree-top.  I made the sentiment using Silhouette Studio, & have figured out how to save it in a different format, so here it is below as a PNG if you want to use it:

I even managed to use some paper from a DCWV stack that I've had for at least 3 years.  Love it when I can use up old stuff.

 

Linking to:

Muse: Challenge #5

CASology: Week 32 ~ Flame