CC&S Challenge 184 Sketch: Pepsi Pop Can Flower

I had to go out to an unexpected Guide meeting tonight so my card for CAS Colours and Sketches this week has ended up being a little rushed! It's Karen's turn to host as the holiday season enters full-swing here and she has very kindly drawn a nice easy sketch for us to work with.

I decided to make a pop can flower as the focal point of my card. I love making these with my Sizzix Bigz Die; they look stunning but are really quite simple to put together. I haven't made any for a while and experimented by making this one from a flattened Pepsi Max can. I'm not too sure about the accompanying papers and outlines that I have chosen to tie in with Karen's sketch but that was the bit that I rushed to do so it was to be expected.

Supplies Used:
Die: Bigz Die Flower, Daisies #2 (Sizzix) 
Snippets: Red & grey cardstcock, Red sparkly brad, Black peel-off outlines

Well that's all for this week!
Thanks for visiting
Stef x

CC&S Challenge 183 Colours: Let's Go Geometric!

It's lovely to be back as your hostess at CAS Colours and Sketches this week as we each take a turn during the months of July and August. For my colour choices I decided to dust off some unloved colours, or should I say colours that haven't featured in any of our colour paletttes lately.

I also thought that I would play around with two of Bev's Uniko stamp sets that haven't had much love from me since I bought them and as I'm hosting I thought I would make two cards for you! The cards themselves don't need much explanation - I have simply stamped some of the images from the sets in each of the palette colours in patterns represented by the stamps themselves. I couldn't have done it so easily without my MISTI which helped me line up the images perfectly!

I've experimented a little with inkpads though. I have to confess I don't really like Memento ink which I've used on the first card. I prefer the colours in this case, but find that you get a grainy finish which doesn't matter with these geometric images but is not so good for sentiments. On the second card I used Versacolor which gives a much smoother coverage but I found the colours difficult to match here and don't think this particular combo shows them to their best advantage.

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets: Background Builders: Squared & Background Builders: Triangulate (Uniko), Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Ink Pads: Dandelion, Bahama Blue & Gray Flannel (Memento), Canary, Turquoise & Cement (VersaColor)
Snippets: White cardstock

I'm looking forward to seeing how you are inspired by these colours. Don't forget to visit some of the DT's blogs and find out how they made their fantastic cards.

Thanks for visiting today!
Stef x

CC&S Challenge 182 Sketch: Teabag folded dahlia

Sorry that my post for CC&S is late this week; I'm caught up in the juggernaut that is the end of the school summer term! Due to summer holidays each of the DT is taking turns to host in July and August and this week Jane has brought us this quite simple sketch which gives us all lots of scope to be creative!

I was following some links in blogland the other day when I came across a blog of someone who has brought a clean, fresh look to iris folding. It's ages since I did any folding techniques so thought that Jane's sketch lent itself quite nicely to a folded dahlia pattern using eight double-sided circles.

The paper was a bit too thick to fold easily but I managed it in the end and must make a note to self to search out some less heavy double-sided papers for folding. It's mounted on to a birthday embossed background using the same paper just to add some interest.

Supplies Used:
Double Sided Printed Paper: Pink Floral Branch PMA 41652 (Papermania)
Embossing Folder: Birthday (Papermania)
Snippets: Shiny brad!

Enjoy the summer and don't forget to craft along with us when you have the time (I think it's my turn to host next week)!
Stef x

CC&S Challenge 181 Colours: Masking with Card-io

I have to admit I wasn't feeling the love for our colour combo at CAS Colours and Sketches this week (sorry Caro!) and found it really hard to settle on a design (I think it's the inclusion of brown, I'm never quite sure how to use it)! It probably doesn't help that, once again, I don't seem to have much time for card-making this week.

Anyhow I decided to resurrect the first Card-io peg stamp set that I ever bought and do some masking. I'm not sure that I like the finished card much either, it looks like I didn't know when to stop! I know she's had hundreds of years of practice but Wendy (from Card-io) always makes it look so easy to get the balance right with her peg stamps... I guess I just need more practice!

Supplies Used:
Peg Stamps: Butterfly Blooms (Card-io)
Sentiment Stamp: All Occasion Sentiments 1 (Uniko)
Ink Pads: Pinecone & Violet (VersaColor), Green from an Ink It Up set
Snippets: None

I've just realised I didn't put the butterfly on the card! Never mind, I think I had better take all my negativity away and come back next week - lol!!

Stef x