Perfectly CAS December challenge #34

 hello crafty stampers!

It's that time again for our new challenge at Perfectly CAS and this month the fitting theme is: Christmas. As always, please only use up to 1/3 of the card front for the design.

I've decided I love making Christmas cards - the possibilities for how to design them are endless! I do like the feeling of warm and cosy even though christmas here is often 30o and sunny! lol

My background here uses a script stamp and the same colour ink was used for 2 of the trees. The third tree was stamped and clear heat embossed for shine, fussy cut and popped up on foam squares. The houses were die cut and the little windows coloured with a fineliner texta to make it look like the lights are on! 

The sentiment was stamped and clear heat embossed then die cut and popped up on foam squares. The little heart was die cut from inked card, clear heat embossed and stacked 3 times. 

We can't wait to see your christmas card creation in our gallery. Thanks so much for stopping by today, have a lovely christmas and new year and we'll see you back in 2023!

stamps: woodware mini trees, kaisercraft script

dies: hero arts infinity squares, paper rose birdhouses, sizzix arctic bear

inks: weathered wood, pine needles, mustard seed distress oxides

Perfectly CAS November challenge #33

 hello crafty stampers!

Thanks for joining us in our new Perfectly CAS monthly challenge where the theme is: snowflakes. I just love snowflakes and have always loved them all sparkly at night!

Two snowflakes were die cut from a black panel using a Gummiapan snowflake die set. Then some inked card was adhered to the back of the panel so it showed through the negative space. Another snowflake was die cut from the inked panel, stacked 3 times and adhered on top of the snowflake cutouts. The sentiment was white heat embossed and adhered with tiny foam squares.

We'd love to see your snowflakes creation in our gallery. Thanks so much for stopping by!

• dies: gummiapan snowflake 
• stamps: hero arts color layering snowflake bundle
• inks: versamark, salvaged patina, mowed lawn, abandoned coral, tumbled glass, salty ocean distress oxides

Perfectly CAS October challenge #32

 hello stampers!

It's time again for the new Perfectly CAS challenge and this month the theme is: think pink. Remember to use only up to 1/3 of the card front for your design.

While pink is not my favourite colour to use, I think a card is improved by using more than one pink tone. Kind of makes it more interesting I guess?

I took my cue from some recent lovely cards by Chris Stokes and used a vase with flowers. The background is stencilled very lightly with distress oxide ink. The vase was die cut then embossed with an embossing folder to give it more texture, and stacked 3 high. The flowers and little bird were die cut then gently inked with various tones of pink. The sentiment was inked using 2 colours randomly, then clear heat embossed for shine.

We're looking forward to seeing your pink themed cards in our gallery. Thanks so much for stopping by!

• dies: paper rose little vases, paper rose little foliage, paper rose birdhouses, gummiapan hearty twig
• inks: spun sugar, picked raspberry, seedless preserves distress oxides
• stamp: penny black grown with love
• stencil: all & create lotza squares

Perfectly CAS September challenge #31

 hello lovely stampers!

It's time again for the Perfectly CAS challenge and this month the theme is: halloween. And as always, we want you to use only up to 1/3 of your card front.

I don't really have any halloween things mainly because we don't really celebrate it here. But I managed to source these little scary pumpkin dies from MFT and then found a couple of really old stamps for the sentiment and spiders. So *phew* we can make something with that!

I marked off the lower third of the card front and stamped little spiders randomly over the area.

The pumpkins were die cut from some distress oxide inked background - I love the grungy orange colours! Then the same dies were cut from black card. The pumpkins were popped up on foam squares on the black pumpkins for a shadowy look.

The tombstone was made from a partially die cut circle, and stamped. Then I used some sponge daubers with various colours of grey and green to make it look old and dirty. Again a black shadowy shape was slipped behind it.

We'd love to see your spooky scary halloween designs in our gallery - just remember to limit your design to 1/3 of the card front. Thanks so much for looking!

• dies: MFT Jack o lanterns, Hero Arts infinity circles
• inks: memento tuxedo black, weathered wood, bundled sage, carved pumpkin, candied apple, pumice stone distress oxides

Perfectly CAS August challenge #30

 hello stampers!

This month at Perfectly CAS, we have a new challenge. We want to see you using embossing on your perfectly cas cards.

I recently purchased this lovely mini embossing folder with snowflakes and wanted to use it since it's been freezing here lately! The snowflakes were made by die cutting white card then dabbing them in various coloured inks sprayed with water, drying between each colour.

The sentiment was inked in salvaged patina distress oxide then clear heat embossed for shine. So I've used heat embossing and dry embossing! A few shiny gems were added to finish.

We can't wait to see your lovely embossed cards in our gallery! Thanks for stopping by!

• stamps: hero arts color layering snowflake bundle
• inks: salvaged patina, scattered straw, spun sugar, speckled egg, tumbled glass, shaded lilac distress oxides
• dies: hero arts large snowflakes and swirls
• embossing folder: unbranded snowflake mini

Perfectly CAS July challenge #29

 hello stampers!

It's time again for the Perfectly CAS monthly challenge and this month you're going to get all "Festive" with us!

I have been making Christmas cards early this year, and thought this was the perfect chance to make another one!

I began by cutting a card panel 1/3 of my card base using my home made grid which measures thirds. Then I embossed the left side using a texture plate. I stamped the flourish with versamark on some white card and clear heat embossed it then ink blended to get an emboss resist. This was then die cut for the ornament. 

The sentiment was die cut using silver paper adhered to card. The silver ornament piece and string were cut out and adhered. Finishing touch was a few rhinestones.

We can't wait to see your creation in our gallery - remember it's the perfect excuse to start on those Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

• stamps: darkroom door flourish texture stamp
• inks: candied apple distress oxide ink, versamark
• dies: newtons nook holiday greetings, hero arts infinity circle
• fiskars filigree texture plate

Perfectly CAS June challenge #28

 hello there crafters!

It's time for the next challenge at Perfectly CAS and for this month the theme is: one quarter. 

This means we want you to make a card that has just 1/4 of the card panel covered, with 3/4 as blank space. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

I decided to use a square card base - something different for me, but I guess I reasoned using 1/4 should be easier on a square shape 😉. To begin I calculated 1/4 of my 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch card base. I cut out this size which was 2 3/4 in square, from white card. This square I scored in 1/8 inch lines then splattered with black ink diagonally through the centre. Another square the same size was stamped with background writing and was die cut to get a picture frame effect. Then I embossed it with a subtle design. This was popped up on thin foam to allow some room for the leaf sprays. 

Some ink smooshed card was die cut with leaf sprays and adhered in one corner, under the frame. The 'happy' was die cut from black card and adhered towards the top, and the 'birthday' word was stamped, trimmed and edged in black, then adhered with foam to sit over the frame.

All of the components sit within the 2 3/4 inch square which is perfect because it keeps it all inside 1/4 of the card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by - we can't wait to see your creations in our gallery!

• stamps: kaisercraft script, altenew sentiment strips
• dies: hero arts infinity squares, mft in focus florals, mft fab foliage, newtons nook holiday greetings
• inks: salvaged patina distress oxide, memento tuxedo black, versafine clair nocturne
• embossing: SU subtle 3D embossing folder

Perfectly CAS May challenge #27

 hello crafty stampers and welcome to another perfectly cas challenge! 

This month we have the theme: Distress. Our talented team have put together some beautiful cards and we can't wait to see what you create! Just remember to use no more than 1/3 of the card space for our challenge. 

I began with a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 in card base and rather then using the 3x3 grid, I calculated 1/3 of the area - about 7 6/8 in. I chose a Paper Rose Stitched Rectangle die which is approx 1 7/8 x 4 inches which is just a little smaller than 1/3 of the card panel. Perfect!

I began with some ink blending using a honeycomb stencil then splattered it with water for some texture. This was die cut with the rectangle die and the edges distressed with some scissors. I stamped the foliage with distress oxide ink and die cut them with the coordinating die set. The sentiment was stamped, trimmed and popped up on foam for dimension.

As a note, 1/3 of a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 in card base is also:

circle = 3 1/8 in diameter

square = 2 6/8 in sides

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today - we can't wait to see your card in our gallery!

Till next time, take care x

• ink: peacock feathers, mustard seed, carved pumpkin distress oxide
• stencil: Darkroom Door honeycomb
• stamp: MFT flower silhouettes, SU Loyal Leaves (sentiment)
• die: MFT flower silhouettes, Paper Rose stitched rectangles

Perfectly CAS April challenge #26

 hello crafty stampers!

The 15th is here again and we can't wait for you to join us in the Perfectly CAS challenge this month. This time the theme is: Gold.

I wanted to use the beautiful Paper Rose Amaya Butterflies die set and thought it would be whimsical to have the gold butterfly fluttering to a vase of gold flowers. The background was ink blended with distress oxide ink after masking off the centre third. The vase was die cut using Paper Rose Little Vases die set 3 times, and stacked, the top one was given a light blending of distress oxide ink. The flower and leaves were die cut using Altenew Leaf Mix die set die set using some gold paper adhered to a scrap of card, and some green card.  

The sentiment from Altenew Sentiment Strips was stamped in the same colour as the background. The butterfly was die cut 4 times, stacked with the gold cut on top and adhered to the top of the panel. 

We'd love to see your card in the Perfectly CAS gallery this month - just remember your design should be 1/3 of the card or less. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Perfectly CAS March challenge #25

 hello lovely stampers! 

I'm so thrilled and honoured to be joining the talented design team at Perfectly CAS! Every month they showcase wonderful CAS cards around a theme, and all using no more than 1/3 of the card panel. Doesn't sound too hard does it? I do love CAS cards and can't wait to get into it. 

This month the theme is: Die Cuts.

The middle third of the card panel was masked off for the background, ink blended with bundled sage distress oxide ink then stamped with the same ink using Darkroom Door Flourish texture stamp. 

Using Paper Rose Bird Houses die set, the bird houses and birds were die cut from slate, white and pink card. The sentiment from Altenew Mini Daisy stamp set was stamped in Altenew Silver Stone then heat embossed with clear for some shine. Lastly some pink card scraps were adhered to the top and bottom of the card base.

We'd love you to join us in the challenge this month - we can't wait for you to show us your die cut creativity! Just remember to use 1/3 of the card or less.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you in our gallery!