Candied

Candied apples. Candied yams. Candied bacon! 

Moral of the story? Everything tastes extra yummy when it's candied!

Super excited (perhaps it is the sugar rush?-hah!) for this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge to create a shaped card! There is one fabulous prize up for grabs from Paper Smooches! For additional challenge details, rules and fabulous eye candy from the Girl Fridays, please visit the CAS-ual Fridays Blog!

Kim from Paper Smooches makes creating shaped cards extra easy when using one of her many fabulous templates! I used the Apple/Pumpkin template. I first printed the template out onto white cardstock, coated it with hot pink acrylic paint (after seeing this inspiration piece here, there was no other color option!) and cut it out. I stamped the sentiment from Paper Smooches Vegtastic and then coated the piece with gesso, for a purely candied finish. The card was finished by paper piecing the stem and leaf and adding some bold stickers.

Looking forward to seeing your shaped creations in the CAS-ual Fridays Gallery!

Color Blocking

Pleating.

Ruffles.

Color blocking.

It's all there in the fashion world just waiting for us to capture it

and transform it into a paper piece of handmade goodness.

Kim Kesti explained the trend of Color Blocking best over at Moxie Fab World and CAS-ual Fridays decided to have a go at it too! The prize this week is offered up by Crop Stop. For all the challenge rules and details, fabulous color blocking inspiration from the Girl Fridays and prize details, please be sure to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog!

My card, heavily influenced by fashionable frocks features a purple pleated band that is wrapped with string and off it hangs a sweet little tag of love. 

I can't WAIT to see what you come up with for this challenge!

P.S. Papercrafts Magazine is hosting their Gallery Idol Competition right now! Have you entered yet??

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Kraft) PTI, (Black Core in Purple and Black) Coordinations, (White) Georgia Pacific
Stamp: (Sentiment from Ever After) WPlus9
Ink: (Onyx Black) Versafine
Embellishments: (Foss), (Tag) PTI

Ode to Mother's Crock-pot

It's wrapped in avocado green ceramic. Swirls of dark brown decorate the edge. Countless dips and roasts have cooked in its rust porcelain interior. It's my mother's wedding gift crock-pot and it's still going strong. (I think I've been through two in just ten years...)

We have a fun challenge for you at CAS-ual Fridays! Reminisce in your childhood and come play some Tic-Tac-Toe with us! Use any line across, down or diagonal to choose the elements for your absolutely fabulous clean and simple design that I know you are going to create. We have a fabulous sponsor and CAS-ual Fridays Temp (aka: guest designer), Tami Mayberry, so please stop by the CAS-ual Fridays Blog for challenge rules, prize details and super inspiration from the Girl Fridays.

Yes, a crock-pot was the inspiration for this card! I was going through pictures of my last vacation and spotted the counter top full of goodies at my sister's house. There, sitting rather squat but proud, and full of yummy baked beans, was my mother's crock-pot. I noticed that a felt sticker from my stash matched the design on the crock pot. I adhered the sticker to woodgrain paneling (hah!) and wrapped the piece with some twine.

**Today I am also featured over at Noor's blog for Fascinating Fridays! What an honor to be recognized by my peers in this fabulous industry! Thanks Noor, and Tammy, for featuring me in your interview today.**

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Marigold Morning, Really Rust, Old Olive) SU
Ink: (Vintage Photo Distress) Ranger
Stamps: (Funky Flowers) WPlus9
Embellishments: (Felt Sticker) Queen & Co., (Twine)
Tools: (Woodgrain Embossing Folder) PTI

Forever in Debt

I remember a proverb that goes something like this:

You can pay back a loan of gold,

but be forever in debt to those who have shown you a kind heart. 

This week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge is all about the bling. Shiny. Dazzling. Stunning. Bling.

I pulled out my most shiny of shiny embellishments with the desire to bring richness to a clean and simple design. After gathering a few scraps of patterned paper in similar color and/or pattern, I layered and glued them after outlining each with a thin black line. I then added just a few other refined embellishments.


Hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to find out more on this week's fabulous sponsor, Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, review the challenge details and rules and to check out the really beautiful, really stunning Girl Friday cards. Thanks to all for continuing to make CAS-ual Fridays so much fun!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Kraft) PTI
Patterned Paper: (Blue) October Afternoon, (White Polkas from the packaging of Modern Basics) PTI, (Yellow) Cosmo Cricket
Embellishments: (Sentiment Sticker) SRM, (Paperclip) K&C Co., (Rhinestones) Michaels, (Black Satin Ribbon) SU
Tools: (Black Marker) SU

It Is Not Commonplace

I came across the teensy tiny little quote regarding what I think clean and simple is all about:

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple...that's creativity." ~ Charles Mingus

Would you agree?

This post is a teensy tiny little bit late too, because of Blogger's downtime, but better late than never!

What a phenomenal turnout for the first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, thank you so much for all that played along. I think you are really going to enjoy this week's challenge as well:

Check out the details and amazing, I mean, truly amazing, design team crations at the CAS-ual Fridays blog. There is a fabulous prize up for grabs from Denami Design!

I started this card by cutting both the cardstock base and a white panel to size. I ran the white panel through the embossing machine that had been inked with brown. I then wrapped the panel with some lovely twine and finished the card with fabulous Boutique Buttons from Denami Design and a sentiment as well.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Teal) PaperSource, (White) Office Max
Stamps: (Birds and the Bees) Wplus9
Ink: (Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Distress) Ranger
Embellishments: (Buttons) Denami Design, (Twine) The Twinery
Tools: (Woodgrain Embossing Folder) PTI, (Corner Chomper) WR Memory Keepers

Texting

Long before the days of email or videos were the norm, long before texting took over, I'd fill pages upon pages with my handwriting and thoughts using different inks, stick them all in an envelope and mail them off to my honey. So completely emotionally satisfying to find them all stuck together with a rubber band inside a shoebox in the back of the closest years and years later...

Oh, it is FINALLY here!

I can't wait for you all to join me by creating something for the very first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! 

The challenge? Create a clean and simple creation but be sure to use some sort of text. Check out some amazing samples by the Girl Fridays and all the details and rules at the CAS-ual Fridays Blog and to see what our first sponsor, Crop Shop, has offered up!

For this texty card, I started out with three pages from an old book, covered each with distress inks and splashed/misted some water while drying and after drying. I then layered the three sheets and cut them at an angle. After arranging them on the card, each panel was glued, the card stamped with a sentiment and wrapped with floss.

I can't wait to see your creation!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (White) Office Max
Stamps: (Fillable Frames #2) PTI
Ink: (Onyx Black) Versafine, (Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Broken China Distress) Ranger
Embellishments: (Floss), (Staples)

I'm a Girl Friday

Somebody pinch me.

I'm a Girl Friday! That's my name up there in the marquee!

So excited and honored to work with Michele and Julie, and the rest of the gang that will be revealed over at CAS-ual Fridays these next few weeks.

Have you heard? CAS-ual Fridays is the newest clean and simple challenge that will be starting soon.

Very soon!
(May 6th is the day for the very first challenge!)