The JUGS Challenge has a fun option this week: CASE one of the Design Team’s cards. Here’s the definition of CASE from the JUGS post: (CASE means Copy And Selectively Edit, or Copy And Slightly Edit, and even Copy And Share Everything. It is “proper etiquette” in cardmaking that the person CASE-ing a card gives credit to the person he/she CASEd for the original idea.) 

As soon as I saw Vicki’s card, I knew I could use my new Betterpress system and one of the two Betterpress plates I have. I needed a card to thank my daughter-in-law’s sister who helped me plan our 50th Wedding Anniversary party last Saturday. The Open House was a huge success and better than anything I imagined. 

To CASE Vicki’s card I chose to use the same black and white color scheme as well as a slight variation on her layout. My image is in the lefthand corner rather than the right, and my sentiment is placed to the right of hers as well. I spend an afternoon running plates through my Betterpress system, but most of those I can’t share yet as they are either on their way to someone or will be by the end of the month. Once I know the recipient has received the card, I can post them.

Spellbinder’s Betterpress system replicates the old letterpress effects with one easy to use system. I’ve always loved letterpress, and once owned a very complicated system which I rarely used. If you’re unfamiliar with letterpress here’s a great definition of it:  Letterpress printing is a form of relief printing; the raised surface of letters or images is inked and then pressed into paper. This card uses one of Altenew’s new Betterpress plates, Dainty Flower Garden.

I don’t think it’s possible to see in a photograph how deeply the image is impressed into the paper, but the effect is truly beautiful.   The system does require special paper. Today’s card uses the Spellbinder’s Pebble paper, a very light gray. Both the sentiment and the floral image were inked with black ink. You can use colored inks as well, and the Betterpress ink is waterproof so I watercolored two of the cards I made last week.

This is also headed to NBUS as the first ever card with my Betterpress System. I do believe it’s close to foolproof!

I don’t often have two posts in one day, but the Color Hues post always goes up on the first of the month, and fortunately for me, The Pinkfresh Studio July Challenge doesn’t close until tonight. 

July’s challenge is to Go Geometric!

Pinkfresh Studio’s Geometric designs are my fave, and I have a new one that I was anxious to try. I used the Quandrant Backdrop hot foil plate, and chose the last three colors in the optional colors seen in the challenge graphic: Ocean Breeze, Mermaid Cove, Tidal Pool, Sweet Mustard, and Marigold. It’s not a color combination I would have chosen, but I absolutely love it.

The sentiment is from PFS’s Foiled Sentiments 6 pack and I used two pieces of dimensional tape for it which lends a little interest, but doesn’t detract from the geometric design.

I’m not particularly happy with either of the photos as the card is much more beautiful than it appears. Photographing metallic elements in cards is always tricky, but the light just wasn’t working for me this morning. We, however, are off to Seabreeze for the day, so this will have to do.

Like yesterday’s card, this one is headed to the Inkspirational Challenge and to the new NBUS post for August as this is the first time I’ve used the Quandrant Backdrop hot foil plate.

I’m right under the wire with these cards. Every month I think I’ll get to the monthly Altenew Challenge, and it just hasn’t happened. I was determined that I’d  make July’s challenge since I absolutely love the inspiration photo.

Thanks to Stef Perry, one of my DT members at Color Hues, I now own the Altenew Craft Your Project Kit: Fragrant Florals. I’ve hesitated many times about these suites of products, but Stef’s card was so beautiful, that I broke down and ordered this one. I’m not sorry. The floral image is huge, and more than fills an A2 card front. I decided to cut it into two pieces and create two cards.

I used a combination of Pinkfresh Studio and Concord & 9th inks to inkblend the florals with the four piece layering stencil. I love how it came out.

After cutting it in half I layered both pieces on separate cards with an embossed brick pattern. I found three of these in my stash. I don’t own the embossing folder and didn’t write down the manufacturer when I used it at a friend’s. 

The sentiments on both cards are from Altenew’s  One-Go Birthday Greetings. 

I’m also entering this in the Inkspirational Challenge: Use a Stencil.

Hopefully, I’ll be back tomorrow with another challenge card that’s due by midnight tomorrow. It’s a bit iffy since we’re planning a trip to the local amusement park if it’s a nice day. 

It’s Woodblock Wednesday, and for once I was ready ahead of time.

I had two wooden stamps on my desk contending for this post, but one of them was co-opted for an earlier challenge. This floral image is from Judith stamps. I’ve owned it for many years, but surprisingly the company is still around and has an active Facebook page. The sentiment is from AMuse Artstamps which is also still creating and selling stamps. 

Judith stamps is know for its whimsical images and this certainly is one. It’s a simple image but makes a wonderful CAS card. After watercoloring it, I die cut it with Ellen Hutson’s Essential Rectangles and then used the next two larger ones to cut both a green and a purple mat. I chose to stamp the sentiment in purple ink.

Thanks to Amy Tsuruta for hosting these monthly blog posts. I’m once again using the wooden stamps which have seen very little attention in the last decade. 

I’m also sending this to the new Simply Clean and Simple Challenge. This is my third and final entry for July. I can see that this will be a regular on my challenge list—three entries are allowed each month. 

One of the more recent kits from My Favorite Things featured a die set called Bold Blooms. I didn’t want all the extras in the kit so I ordered the dies and an accompanying sentiment set with a large word die. This card just uses the blooms and started with the sketch from CAS Colours and Sketches.

I had previously die cut all the of the Bold Blooms with white cardstock and I used a variety of Pinkfresh Studio inks to ink blend the blooms before assembling them. After die cutting the white panel, I scored five lines to represent the rectangle on the sketch. and arranged the three blooms. There were several other blooms, but three worked best and these were my favorites.

I was somewhat surprised when I turned my birthday calendar to the August page to discover I need four anniversary cards. Sadly, I have none in my stash, so I added one of Spellbinders Yana’s Special Sentiments, hot foiled in gold on white and die cut. 

There are also three other challenges for a CAS card, including a brand new challenge called Simply Clean and Simple. A favorite of mine (but one I haven’t played along with for awhile) The Flower Challenge, is looking for CAS designs, and Tic Tac Toe has a diagonal that works well: CAS/Free/Any Shape Die. I’m not totally sure I’ve met the last requirement–does the die need to be a specific type of shape, or does the white panel die cut with a rectangle die or the flower die work? I’m also sending this to NBUS since Bold Blooms has never been used before.

The wooden stamp for this card was sitting on my desk as a contender for the July Woodblock Wednesday post. But when I saw current The Paper Players Clean and Simple Challenge, I decided to put it to use right now. The card is also going to the Four Seasons Challenge-Summer.

I have to admit, stamping with a wooden stamp can be a challenge sometimes. It took four tries before I got a dark impression. Once it was stamped, I colored it with Copic markers, and die cut it with a Simon Says Stitched Rectangle. The wooden stamp, Watermelon Checkerboard, is from That’s All She Stamped. The only place you can find a stamp by that company now is on Etsy or eBay.

I added a narrow black border to the image with dimensional tape after stamping the sentiment from My Favorite Things, Itty Bitty Gifting. 

Tracy’s in the beginning stages of painting my craft room. That plus a busy schedule the last few days has meant little creative time. Hoping that changes over the next few days when my calendar opens up! I have other challenges I’d like to play along with before they close. Thanks for stopping by!

My Wisconsin grandchildren recently attended a huge family reunion on their father’s side. When we asked about their favorite activity, they both responded “canoeing.” I’ve had this stamp for almost two years, and every summer I think I’m going to get the card made for them before we spend a week on a lake with them. Their response was the motivation I needed to finally get the card made. It’s an interactive card, and I would have never managed to figure it out it in a reasonable amount of time without a wonderful “how-to” video by Jessica Frost Ballas for Ellen Hutson. The stamp set, Peek-a-Boo Pals: Camp Wanna Stamp, was a collaboration with Ellen Hutson and Avery Elle. My card is definitely a CASE of Jessica’s card.

I started by stamping and coloring the animals and canoe and cutting them out with my Scan-N-Cut. The next step was to ink blend the sky and water for the background. Next was to assemble the My Favorite Things  Twist and Turn interactive die which allows the paddles to move back and forth when the white tab is pulled. Once that was accomplished, putting it all together went fairly quickly. If I had better video skills, there’d be a little video showing how the paddles move back and forth. These two photos are the best I could do. Both critters lean to the left and the paddles move to the right.

The card arrived in Wisconsin earlier this week, and was a big hit with the six year old. Not sure what the eleven year thought about it. He was busy making zucchini muffins while we were talking.

The current Double D Challenge is The Great Outdoors, so this is a perfect match! We’ll be on Big Twin Lake in Michigan in August with Sarah and her family. We have a boat for the week, but I’m not sure about canoes. It also fits this month’s Colorful Options where the colors are red, white, and blue.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the new Color Hues Challenge.