Blessed: Mojo Refound!

Woah - it's been 9 months since I have been in my craft room!  Almost a year ago, a new twist to my job started tapping into my time and mental energy.  I found myself making cards because of DT demands rather than because it brought me joy - one more "must do" which is a crappy mindset, so last October, I resigned from my DT spots, unsubscribed from card-related blogs and emails, and totally went off the grid.  I don't think I set foot in my craft room more than a handful of times.  I just couldn't muster the desire or energy.   And then as summer settled in, a need to be creative started calling to me - softly at first.  I found myself interested in cards again and began checking out a few of my old favorite people and companies.  Melissa Bickford's blog was one of my stops.  I found Hello Lovely from Concord and 9th in her Crafty Destash section and picked it up.  This beautiful stamp set and Pinterest were the perfect combination to get me going again.  I have been in my craftroom - playing 😃 with the Hello Lovely set.  This card is all stamping, but I am putting together a collection of cards and reacquainting myself with techniques and media.

A long-time admirer of Darnell Knauss, one of the challenge blogs I subscribe to is the Twofer Challenge.  The current challenge (#18) is called Garden, so I combined two cards I created during my play time to create my entry.  

The second card is so CAS!  The sentiment and flower are heat embossed in gold and I went into my embossing folders to use the background.  I love the simple elegance!  You can't see it in the photo, but I used a stylus behind the flower to give it dimension and look rounded. . . playing again! And it feels so good!  I'm off to mess around with my Copics and some watercolors with this same stamp set.  

CAS Colours & Sketches #292 - Colour Challenge

I've been on a hiatus of sorts from my CC&S DT responsibilities for the past several weeks, but am back with you for the remainder of the year. 

This week Samantha created the colour challenge and I knew what I was going to do surprisingly quickly! What a fun and simple card, yet I love how it looks.  The flower stamp is from MFT and the sentiment is PTI. 

Hope you will join our  CAS Colours and Sketches challenge this week.  Take a look at the DT inspiration here.

CAS Colours & Sketches #288 - Colour Challenge

This week's CAS colour challenge was an easy "make" for me.  I decided to use You've Been Framed die and mini stamp set from Papertrey Ink and the card came together pretty quickly.  The yellow polka dot paper was even a scrap in my drawer!  The oval of the sentiment panel hides a wonky cut across the top and the Night of Navy rectangle was a great anchor for the backdrop.

Hope you will stop by the CAS Colours and Sketches blog to see the DT use of our colours and then come and play along with us!

CAS Colours & Sketches #287 - Sketch Challenge

It's been a crazy few weeks for me.  I started a new job and have been busy transitioning from my previous position, while at the same time taking on responsibilities for a new one.  Hopefully life will settle down in the near future. 

I tried to bring some calm to my life by spending some time in my craft room.  Karen's sketch for this week's CAS Colours & Sketches challenge was just the ticket.  Thanks for the inspiration, Karen!  Take a peek at the DT's makes with the sketch and then come and play along!

CAS Colours & Sketches #284 - Colour Challenge

I couldn't resist creating a fall-inspired card with Patricia's colour choices this week on the CAS Colours and Sketches Blog.  The llama and basket are from Flora and Fauna's stamp, Llama Set and  white embossing powder on Cajun Craze paper helped keep it simple.  The "polaroid" die cut and sentiment are oldies from Papertrey Ink.  I  framed the image by scoring two lines on each side with the help of my Score Pal.

Pop in on the DT makes for this week HERE and then play along with this week's challenge.  Can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

CAS Colours & Sketches #283 - Double!

Since July has a fifth Tuesday, it's a "Timeless Tuesday" which is a double challenge on the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge Blog.  We are reaching back into the archives and pulling out an old sketch as well as retired SU colours, hence the "timeless" part of the name! 

I've used Flora and Fauna's Love Bug stamp set for my main image and Copics for coloring.  The headlights are two jewels I dug out of my stash.  Elizabeth Crafts Designs Ribbons and Jewels dies is glued on the front panel and popped out from the card back.  

Hope you will join our CC&S challenge this week.   

My Time to Craft - ATC Card

The latest challenge on the MTTC Blog is to create an ATC card.  Here's a link to a YouTube video for folks who aren't familiar with ATCs.  It's basically a multimedia 2"x3" trading-style card.

My card was made to celebrate artist, Sandra's Caldwell's 65th birthday.  The image is a digi she created called, Glamour Nana, which is available in her Etsy shop.  I started by stamping and masking the balloons with a sentiment stamp in the background.  The "birthday" sentiment panel and heart punched from patterned paper came as the next layer.  Sandra's image was colored and fussy cut and layered on top and the whole panel was adhered to the 2x3 piece of colored cardstock.

I love Sandra's unique style as an artist. You can see several examples of her work by finding her name on my sidebar, checking out her Etsy Shop, or joining her FB Group Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans.

I'm looking forward to seeing the ATC cards you come up with in the MTTC gallery.