CASology Week #164: Umbrella

If you are looking for my ColourQ post, please click here.

Hello and happy Tuesday.  It's time for another challenge at CASology.  Our cue word this week is UMBRELLA.  I was torn between using an umbrella for rain (which we so desperately need in California) or a sun umbrella (which is the kind of umbrella I see most frequently in San Diego).

I decided to use the rain umbrella, but with a twist.  I did some masking and coloring with Copics to make a little scene.  I stamped an umbrella top from PTI Scattered Showers, then masked it off to stamp Simon the dog.  Then, I masked Simon to stamp the handle of the umbrella, making it look longer than it actually is.  Just for fun, and to ease the drought a little, I added some raindrops.

Now, it's your turn.  How are you inspired by UMBRELLA?  I hope you play along this week. Please remember to keep it Clean and Simple.

I am also linking up at a few more challenges this week:

Simon Says Monday:  Love this Technique (masking and coloring), Happy Little Stampers CAS Colouring, and Time Out #39: Make Your Mark.

Please head on over to the CASology blog and gather some inspiration from the design team.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Gillian Ross 
Hannelie Bester 

Hazel Hodgkins (taking a break)

Jen Wills (taking a break)

Joyce Mehrberg (that's me)

Judy Marino 

Kimberly Wiener

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Tracey McNeely 

Guest Designer: Bhavana

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CASology Week 90: Wet

It's time for another CASology challenge, and our cue word this week is WET.  If you live in California like me, you are probably worried about this terrible drought we have been having--well, here is your chance to get all WET without wasting one single drop of precious water.  Have some fun with this cue word, and then please link up your creation on the CASology blog by Monday 4/14 at noon (CST).

I created a little mini scene that has not been seen around my house in ages--rain boots and an umbrella set off in the corner to dry.  I pulled out some oldies for this card--the rain boot is from PTI Green Thumb and the Umbrella is from PTI Scattered Showers.  A few sequins are filling in as rain, and I used the sentiment from Green Thumb that sold me on the set in the first place.  If you are a shoe-lovin' gal, you probably can relate to this sentiment.

I did a bit of masking to create my scene--and that is my CAS tip for today--to use masking to create a sense of depth and layers.  I started by stamping the top portion of the umbrella using SU Cherry Cobbler.  Then I created a mask for that umbrella top, and stamped the boot, so it would look like it was behind the umbrella.  I made a mask of the boot and stamped the handle of the umbrella, so it would look like it was behind the boot.  Easy peasy, and the masks were not too hard to make either.  I used small post it notes.

Since CASology is a Clean And Simple challenge, I thought it would be helpful to review some things to keep in mind when creating a CAS design:

1.  One main image
2.  Lots of open space (uncluttered)
3.  Limited layers & embellishments
4.  Quick & easy to recreate

 

You can see that my card meets all 4 criteria above.

 

So, what do you think of when you see the word WET?

 

Check out the beautiful designs from the CASology Design Team members and see how they were inspired by wet.  Then, please play along and link your creation to the CASology blog by Monday 4/14 at noon (CST).  

Don't forget to keep your card Clean and Simple.

 

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Gillian Ross

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg (that's me)

Judy Marino

Kimberly Wiener

Maureen Merritt

May Park

Meghan McMillan

Melissa Chipperfield

Tracey McNeely (on blogcation)

And our guest designer this week, Michele.

 

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Lil Inkers, Hero Arts, Retro Sketches and Make it Monday

I am playing along with with the Lil Inkers Sunny Day challenge today.  Doesn't their inspiration photo just scream SUMMER.  I am ready for summer, and our weather lately in San Diego has been very  summer-like.  This photo inspired me to dig out my Lil Inkers Pinwheel dies, which were my very first Lil Inkers purchase.  I also used the Instant Camera Die and Stitched Rectangle dies for my card.  I used the sketch from this week's Retro Sketches RS#64.

My daughter will be giving this card to her friend, along with a gift, at her birthday party--so it can be as poofy as I want.  I used a polymer clay button I made a while ago for the centerpiece of the pinwheel. 

I was in need of a masculine 'Thinking of You' card this morning, so I whipped up a quick card, casing both Susan's card here and this card of mine from last week.   I will be entering this card at A Blog Named Hero for their CAS challenge and Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge to use your favorite ink.  I have different favorites, depending on what I am doing.  On this card, I used Versafine Onyx Black for the sentiment--this is my very favorite black ink for sentiments, Memento London Fog for the text background--this is my favorite ink for creating subtle backgrounds, and PTI Ocean Tides for the images--this is one of my favorite inks for images on masculine cards.

I finally did a Make it Monday on a Monday.  The topic this week is Paper Piecing, and I used one of the umbrellas from Scattered Showers and some MME On the Sunny Side papers.  I can't take credit for planning it out exactly, but I used the Sunrise Impression plate, and my die cut sun happens to fall right about where the sun rays start on the IP, and it looks pretty cool in person.

Supplies Used (PTI):
Pinwheel 
Stamps:  Birthday Bash Sentiments
Paper:  White, MME On the Sunny Side
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  Lil Inkers Dies:  Pinwheel, Instant Camera, Stitched Rectangles, Banner Builder Die

Thinking of You
Stamps:  Background Basics Text Style, Botanical Silhouettes, Hero Arts Antique Engravings
Paper:  Vintage Cream
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Memento London Fog, Ocean Tides

Wishing  you Sunshine
Stamps:  Scattered Showers
Paper:  Vintage Cream, MME On the Sunny Side
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  Lil Inkers Large Sunshine Die, Sunrise Impression Plate

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Pattern Play Day 3

Hi there.  I have 4 cards using some of the the tricks I learned from Day 3.  This day was dedicated to tricks for working with hard to use or bold paper.  So far, I think this has been the best day, in terms of helping me better use my patterned papers.  Those big, bold and colorful papers that initially catch my eye and make me want to buy a paper pad, are often the ones that just it in the box, because I have no idea what to do with them (except pet and admire).

The first lesson was to cut the paper into strips and then reassemble them.  Keep it simple, add a sentiment, and you are done.  What a timely lesson.  When I was going through my Basic Grey What's Up pad, I came across a piece that was so pretty, but the entire sheet was a scene.  I loved the scene and the colors, but had no idea how to use them.  Lucky for me, my Bountiful Banners arrived just as I was making this card.

I tried this idea on some paper from Bo Bunny Timepiece Collection.  I bought this pad several years ago because I thought it would be great for masculine cards, but had never been able to figure out how to best use those papers.  I stamped my sentiment from Hands of Time onto one of the tone on tone papers in that pad, and then matted it with a tiny border in white, a trick from Day 1.  I distressed the edges, and I think it helps those papers work better together, another tip from Day 1.

My last two cards use another techinque from this lesson, of just using small amounts of the bold pattern.  This first card uses 5 different patterns from Echo Park Hello Summer.  I never would have done this before yesterday, but I think they all work so well together.  Three of the patterns are tone on tone, so they work kind of like solids, the bold is in the front, and the fifth paper is just a striped strip, which ties all the colors together. 

My last card uses papers from Echo Park So Happy Together, and is inspired by this card from Ashley during the PTI release.   I used 4 patterns from this pad, but three of them are practically solids.

That's it for me today.  I have some more ideas about things I can do with more of my bold and hard to use papers, and I have a new appreciation for all those tone on tone, solids, and subtle prints that are included in the 6X6 pads.  This class is helping me see how to best use all of the types of papers included in those pads.  Perhaps I should get some more of them now....

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Casadia

Last week, I stumbled upon Wida's blog, Beachorado,  and learned that she was in the midst of a very fun project.  She and lots of her friends had embarked on a CASing adventure that she called CASADIA.  In this game, each person has cased the card of the person in front of them.  You can see the chain below.  It's almost like a game of telephone, as the cards migrate further and further away from the original card.  As you look at all these incredible cards, you can see who made the card, and you can click on their name to go to their blogs to see more about how their card was made.

Wida was kind enough to let me play along, so scroll down to see what I came up with:

Laura Bassen

Jennifer Rzasa

Wida Miller

Shirley Bee

Amy Tsurtura

Lorena Canto

Ashley N Newell

Lalo Ik

Julie Hoffman

Jennifer Ingle

Julie 

Are you still with me?  Here is my card, that I cased from this card above by Julie:

Brighter Skies (by me)

I loved Julie's paper pieced umbrella, clouds and supportive sentiment, so that is the direction I took my card in.  I had just returned from Michaels with a brand new MME Reunion 6X6 paper pad, so I used those papers in my card, along with an umbrella from  Scattered Showers, and the Heart 2 Heart stamp set.

Well, this card is pretty far from where we started with the original card.  I remembered seeing that card when it was first posted, and wanted to see if I could case that one, too.  Here is what I came up with:

Happy Birthday

My card is a fun and colorful take on Laura Bassen's original card.  I went with a sentiment in the negative space behind a die cut, and used colored twine on the side for the buttons.

CASADIA has been great fun.  Thanks, Wida, for allowing me to play along.  If you would like to join in on the fun, please click here to get in touch with Wida.

Supplies Used (PTI):

Brighter Skies

Stamps:  Heart 2 Heart, Scattered Showers

Paper:  Kraft, MME Reunion

Ink:  Fresh Snow, Memento Rich Cocoa

Other:  Heart 2 Heart & Scattered Shower Dies

Happy Birthday 

Stamps:  Avery Elle Framed Fonts, Star Prints, Tag it's

Paper:  White, Aqua Mist Patterns 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Winter Wisteria, Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, Aqua Mist

Other:  Celebrations Die, Twinery Twine

 

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Pink Umbrellas

This week's Make it Monday showed us how to make homemade thick chipboard accents.  It is so easy.  Basically, you just die cut your cardboard (I used coasters) 6 or so times, then glue all the layers together.  The top layer is the card stock or patterned paper you want to show on your card.  This week's CAS-ual Friday's Challenge is called Mostly Monochromatic, and the challenge is to use three shades of the same color plus brown.

I combined the two challenges into this card, using Scattered Showers.  It is based on a card Dawn McVey showed during the initial introduction of Scattered Showers back in 2009.  I used Bitty Dots paper in Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, and Raspberry Fizz.  I used the Sweet Blush umbrella for my chipboard accent.

In this side view, you can see how thick that light pink umbrella is.  This technique is so easy, and really adds something special to the card.  I've got lots of ideas for more chipboard fun.

I didn't intend for this card to be a baby shower card for a girl, but that's what it is looking like to me.  So, I think I'll be hanging on to this one for a while.


Supplies Used (PTI)
Stamps:  Scattered Showers
Paper:  2008 & 2008 Bitty Dots, White
Other:  Scattered Showers die, Coasters, ribbon from my stash

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It's Raining Acorns

I made a card for this week's CAS-Friday challenge to use paper piecing on a fall themed project.  This card is also my second card for PTI's Make it Monday #31, Creating Backgrounds with non-background Stamps.  I combined the umbrella from Scattered Showers with the littlest acorns from Autumn Acorns to make this card:

I paper pieced the umbrella using three different papers from PTI's Fall Prints and Patterns.  I made a background to look like raining acorns, and I cut two little acorns out of the patterned paper to decorate the sentiment.


Supplies Used (all Papertrey unless otherwise noted):
Stamps:  Scattered Showers, Autumn Acorns
Paper:  Rustic White, Dark Chocolate, Fall Prints & Patterns
Other:  Scattered Showers Die, Angled Labels Die

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