CAS Summer

Good morning Riley peeps!  As you are reading this I am probably saying goodbye to my third grade class for the year.  Yep, the last day of school!  So very excited to spend time at home with kids this summer!  

Because of the timing of the end of school and in honor of it being almost the 4th of July, I have challenged the Riley and Company design team

to come up with a Clean and Simple Summer card or project.

For my card I have used some kraft paper and put some black cardstock at an angle across the bottom.  The stitching was created by hand.  The sentiment comes from the clear set Popping out of Cake Riley.  You can find it HERE.  The image is called Grand 'Ole Flag.  You can find it HERE at the Riley and Company Store.

To all of you starting off your summer:  lift your imaginary glasses with me and clink!  Make it a great one!

Kraft Challenge

Hello again!  Can you believe that it is already June?  Where has the time gone?  We are just getting ready for the end of school here, and things are getting a little crazy schedule wise.  Lucky for me I made a few Riley and Company cards ahead of time!

Joy has challenged us to make a card using kraft paper.  I have made one that is clean and simple.  

The sentiment is stamped on kraft paper with black ink.  I have back the panel on black and added some patterned paper at an angle behind it.  Super simple, but the colors really make it pop.  The sentiment is one of the newest stamps from Riley and Company.  It is from their new stamp line called Inspirations.  You can find the stamp HERE at the Riley and Company Store.

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Cosmic Strawberry - Color challenge #14

Crafting from the Heart - anything goes

Please come play along in our challenge at the Riley and Company blog!  I can't wait to see your creations!

Celebrations at Dream Valley

Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!  We have had great weather for all of the outdoor sports yesterday!  I like the cool weather, but I'm definitely not ready for winter!

Today at Dream Valley we are looking for cards or projects for celebrations!  Our sponsor this fortnight is Digi Doodle Shop.  

The prize is a $10 gift certificate to their store!

For my card I have made a card for a male birthday.  The stamp set is from Close to My Heart.  The paper is Stampin' Up.  I originally had just planned to make this a one layer card on kraft paper, but I decided to cut it down and distress the edges and mount it on a dark bluish/purple paper.  

I hope you have a great week!

Earth Tones

Good morning!  It's a beautiful Sunday!  Today at Dream Valley we are looking for cards or projects using earth tones.  

This fortnight out sponsor is:

The winner gets £20 to spend in the store!

For my card I have used the Stampin' Up set Little Boys.  I stamped the image and sentiment on kraft paper.  I had never colored with copics on kraft paper before, so I wasn't sure how it would work out.  It just turns out that you can't use the lightest blending tones on the kraft because it only looks like it's wet instead of a color.  The darker colors show up better.  I didn't want to color in the whole image, because I wanted the blues and browns to really show up like those photos you see where one color is popping out.  Couldn't resist the green frog though!

I would like to add this to the following challenges:

Drunken Stampers - use kraft

Our Creative Corner - our boys and their toys

Secret Crafter - men's card

Have a great week!

Simply Thanks

Hello. How is everyone this fine cold morning? Today I'm posting a card that I found on the Splitcoaststampers site. I'll tell you more about it for those of you who have never been been. Splitcoaststampers is a website where you can access thousands of interesting paper crafting ideas from people all over the world. It has everything from cards posted by users, to tutorials on different techniques. The best part about it is that you can access the card ideas by company, and for some companies even by stamp set! It makes it easy when you are wondering how to use a certain stamp.

Ok, so here is my card:

This is a very simple design but the red apples certainly packs a visual punch against the craft paper. The stamp set is from Stampin' Up called Give Thanks. I stamped the bucket of apple and the sentiment underneath with black Staz-On ink. When it had dried, I used watercolor crayons and a blender pen to apply color to the image. Use a corner rounder on the bottom edges, tie a red ribbon, and voila! Simple, easy card that looks spectacular!