As most of my friends know, Halloween isn’t my favourite season so this card isn’t about Halloween but is an anniversary card. Filling in the blank at the As You See It challenge is easy though, because filling in the blank for me would be fireworks. Yes they are pretty and if going off at a professional event I quite enjoy them, but the ones at local home parties scare the heck out of me. This year the fear is made worse by the fact that everything is so dry so a mistake has the potential to create disaster. As well, when still a teenager, local kids threw firecrackers at me and I guess I’ve never quite gotten over it. As this card is using embossing in the design I decided to add it to the challenge at CYHTH even though I didn’t add the optional twist of pumpkins. I may use the other half of the layer to add pumpkins as a second entry into that challenge.

My card has been created with fireworks in mind and I used a Gemini folder to emboss the design and then cut the piece in half. I used small sponges to add some colour and a gold glitter pen too. The sentiment is from an MFT Itty Bitty Basics set and I curved it on the block so it would follow the embossed curve. I thought fireworks were a nice way to celebrate an anniversary as well as any other celebration. Embellishments are from my stash. Thanks for spending some time with me and have a lovely Sunday!

In my last post I mentioned an inked piece that I didn’t think I liked much, however, once it was dry I realized it wasn’t so bad. Stamp used is an MFT background stamp. Thinking that a 2nd post for the Color Hues challenge might be fun I cut the panel down a bit. In searching for something else I came across this acetate piece that had the fancy border with bright orange sparkle in places and out of curiosity I laid it over the top of my piece. I quite liked how it looked so I attached it by using glue underneath the sparkly bits and then adding the entire panel to a piece of black CS. The sentiment is also from MFT again backed with a piece of black. The inked flowers used Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron, carved pumpkin and spiced marmalade inks. I also added some Opal blaze to this piece as I did in the previous post but the shimmer isn’t visible in the photo. The acetate overlay border is done in several shades of green with a hint of orange which is why I used it even though it is busy looking card. I can’t remember when I bought these acetate overlays but as with many things, I do eventually use them. I even have a small strip left of the main image panel to use at a later date. Not bad for an initial ‘I don’t like it’ reaction. Have a great weekend everyone.

With one challenge calling for Orange and green and another orange and black, I thought of trying to combine one card for both. I’m not sure it worked totally, but it doesn’t really matter in the whole scheme of things. I actually made two cards using this MFT background stamp. When I had finished the first panel and before it was fully dry I thought that I didn’t like it much so I took another piece of CS and this time smooched the paper through the inks drying in between. Distress inks used are Twisted Citron and Carved Pumpkin. When it was fully dry I added the stamped flowers using Forest Green. I quite liked the result but felt it needed some shimmer so I carefully added some Opal Blaze over the flowers and it shimmers quite nicely in reality. Then I used the sentiment stamp from a small gifted to me GKD stamp set and backed it with a bit of black CS before adding it to the layer. I also added few orange gems from my stash. Thanks for taking a look and I wish you a happy weekend.

Late last week my Spellbinders order arrived and this EB folder was part of it. I had to test it out so I used it on a white piece of CS and then set it aside. Yesterday I took another look at it and decided to add a bit of colour using distress inks and a sponge. Initially it was more yellow with a hint of orange, but after seeing this challenge I went over it again using ground espresso so it has more brown on it. I cut it down to the panel used here and added it to an orange base and then onto the card front. Then I found this GKD incentive stamp that is one of the first I received from her and using Tombow markers and huffing I stamped each section of the flowers and stems in blue, orange and brown. I did each bit separately trying to keep the inks from mixing. Once ready I added more colour using the markers and the blending tool that comes with them and then I fussy cut and added it the embossed layer. I wanted to say Happy Birthday and remembered the vertical stamp set from GKD so I gold heat embossed the sentiment on the side. I wish I could have fussy cut more of the white area from the flowers but knew if I tried I would likely mess it up so left it alone. All in all I’m happy with the result and it wasn’t a difficult card to make.

This stenciled background was leftover from a project I did the other day and I decided to use it for my vaulting gnome image. He is from an MFT set that I stamped, coloured and die cut and the little toad stool he is vaulting was left over from that project and I decided to use it here. That was coloured using Sakura glaze pens but the gnome is mostly done with Spectrum noir. I was going to use him on a different card design but I couldn’t get it right so gave up and did this one instead. The sentiment is from an older GKD Christmas set. The little star is a fallout from my previous card post and the balloon is from a SSS set. I’m feeling quite tired this afternoon so am pleased that I’ve managed to make a couple of cards at least. My creativity is waning so I shall go and do something else now. Thanks for looking.

As You See It has a colour challenge and Caffeinated Christmas needs gnomes so I combined the two challenges into one card. My gnome is from a SSS set, and the cup image is a stamp I’ve had for while, but the label has come off so I don’t know the manufacturer. I coloured my gnome using Prisma pencils and one or two Sakura glaze pens and then fussy cut him. The cup was done with Spectrum Noir pens and also fussy cut. Each image was popped up with foam tape. The oval PP is from StampinUp and the background piece is another company, however I’ve forgotten the name at the moment. The background was die cut with a rectangle stitched die also unbranded and the oval uses Infinity Dies from Hero Arts. The letters forming the word are from MFT, the same set I used the other day and as you can see the puffy look works on more than just the metallic paper I used on that project. This lime green paper is fairly thin but it still gives a slightly puffy look. Inside the card it reads Warm thoughts of you, all words that came with the cup stamp set. Thanks for taking a look and I hope your day is going well.

It is kind of hard to see on the photo, but the black background is embossed with a Tim Holtz Sizzix 3D folder called foliage, my current fave, to which I added the debossed side orange panel using a SSS 3D folder. These in turn were added to a dark gold card front. The sentiment is from an old CTMH set that I heat embossed. The pumpkin and flowers are courtesy of a close friend who is with StampinUp and I used her stamps to create it. All heat embossed in gold. Other embellishments are from my stash. I wish I could get a better photo, but for some reason none of the ones I took are truly showing the embossing on the black although in reality it is quite evident. I’m entering it into the CYHTP embossing challenge as well as a second card into FourSeasons.

I just have time to upload and post this card before our guests arrive for dinner. Although the challenge at Paper Dragonfly says spooktacular, I needed a fall birthday card and wanted something more fun than spooky so I used pumpkins with amusing faces rather than spooky ones. The challenge at Fourseasons is anything goes fall so it fits that challenge nicely too. The pumpkins were stenciled using a Tim Holtz stencil and Rusty Nail ink. I used a circle template and moved the stencil around as required for placement and then I added the foliage. Stamps are from GKD Wreath Builder and another called Triple Play Holiday. The faces are from MayMay Made It and sentiment is from MFT. Embellishments are from my stash. Focal layer was added to a GKD card front in Warm Cocoa. It is a fairly simple card but I like it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

This card was made as a thank you for a friend who helped a lot in our new garden and it fits the bill perfectly for the Just add Ink challenge. I used several colours of CS for each panel for additional interest. Dies are Grand Cabinet 3D and the stamp set is from MFT called You Gnome Me. Used Inktense pencils to colour images. Other elements are scraps that I wanted to use. These types of cards take a long time to make and require a lot of patience too. I made one mistake with this card as I forgot to put the background gnome on a piece of plastic so he would stand a bit taller and be more visible. Other than this I’m happy with the way it turned out and even happier it can be used in a challenge. I also think that in future I will fold back the tabs at the side and glue them flat so that they aren’t visible when it is standing. Thanks for spending time with me today.

The other day I was playing with some striped paper that I had made ages ago using up some scraps. As I had a negative die cut heart sitting on my desk from another project I decided to cut the same size heart from the striped piece and then put the two together. I added a small strip across the card base to match the heart and stamped the sentiment from and MFT set to go across the heart. The little flowers were also left from another project and I thought they would look nice at the top of the heart and liked the look so they were added as you can see here. I did the flower centers with Pops of Color. For the challenge I’ve left it as is, but I shall probably add a few embellishments here and there before using it. I have a couple of other ideas floating in my head so I may add another card to this challenge if I have time. Its Thanksgiving here so tomorrow we have some friends coming for dinner. No time for card making if I’m in the kitchen unless I’m lucky enough to get things done early. Have a good weekend everyone.