AAA

Cards created for the AAA Cards challenge

You are so kind

Happy Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards! This fortnight’s theme is ‘inspired by nature’ and our sponsor is Happy Little Stampers shop.

For my card, I used the Beautiful Branches stamp set and dies from Concord & 9th. After stamping the branch using Distress Oxide ink, I cut to blossoms from some pink and white vellum that I’ve had in my stash for many years! Once I had an arrangement I was happy with, I stuck down the flowers and added a stamped greeting and a few Nuvo drops to finish the card.

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by Nancy from Paper Trail of Smiles and Christine from Poppaea Cards. They both have some fabulous creations – you must check out their sites if you haven’t already done so!

I’m also entering this into the current Where Creativity Meets C9 challenge – floral.

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.

 

Thank the stars above

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards and we have a Tic Tac Toe grid for you this fortnight. Our sponsor is the Stamplorations shop.

I decided to use the top row: gold/friendship/coloured cardbase. I rarely use coloured cardbases as I do like my white backgrounds, but I thought it would be good to do something a bit different!

I used a fabulous die from Joanna Sheen and inlaid some gold glitter paper in the centre of the stars. I stamped the My Favorite Things sentiment on the reverse of a scrap of the cardstock as it was much smoother and I wanted to get a good impression for embossing. To finish off the card, I added a few small die cut stars.

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by Shery from Stamplorations and Tiya-B from Tiya-B.com. She has some fabulous creations on her blog – you must check out her site if you haven’t already done so!

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.

Perfect Day Challenge

Happy Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards and this fortnight’s theme is ‘perfect day’ and our sponsor is Precious Remembrance Shop. They’ve got a cool range of stamps and also some planner/scrapbooking goodies that would be perfect for Project Life.

Now I must confess that I found this challenge theme incredibly difficult! I tend to think in terms of perfect moments rather than days – catching up with family and friends, seeing a new part of the world, crafting, finding a bargain, even simply my evening commuter train just running on time (yes, rare and even then rarely perfect!).

In the end I decided to go with a wedding card, after all, we all want the bride and groom to have their perfect wedding day don’t we?

I stamped/embossed an older Magenta stamp that I’ve had for maybe a decade. Do you think I used gold embossing powder? Well, actually I didn’t – I used Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink and clear embossing powder! I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked quite golden! After colouring the image with my Twinkling H2Os, I masked it off and added some regular distress ink to ground the image.

To add a bit of interest to the background, I cut a white card panel with an Avery Elle die and then inlaid some white glitter card before adhering the image panel.

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by Dyane from Precious Remembrance Shop and Sharon from From My Craft Desk. She has some fabulous creations on her blog – I love her style so much – you must check out her site if you haven’t already done so!

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.

Blended Blissful Butterflies

Happy Easter Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards, but before I get on to that I must just say that the response to the last challenge was AMAZING! So many beautiful CAS cards in our gallery and some wonderful inspiration! THANK YOU.

Anyway, this fortnight’s theme is ‘a favourite technique’ and our sponsor is Sugar Pea Designs.

Favourite technique! How can I choose just one? Heat embossing – who isn’t amazed by that process?! Dry embossing – so effective! Colouring – so soothing! TOO MANY FUN TECHNIQUES!

In the end I decided to combine a few of my favourite techniques – inlaid die cutting, ink blending and adding shimmer – although realistically I’m not sure that last one is really a technique!

Anyway, for my card, I blended some distress inks (Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac and Cracked Pistachio) and spritzed some perfect pearls that I had mixed with water. I then cut the blended panel and some glitter card with the Memory Box Blissful Butterfly Border.

So that the die cut would be truly inlaid, I also cut the base card with the die and then added a cardstock panel to the inside of the base card. This panel then served as a base for the die cut. Hope that makes sense?!

This is the reverse of the panel, on the inside of my card.

Once I’d inlaid the glitter outline and blended butterflies, I added a Winnie & Walter sentiment to finish off my card.

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by one Guest Designer – Anita from Neet & Crafty. She has some amazing creations on her blog, so please drop by her site!

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.

Colourful congrats

Happy Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards. This fortnight’s theme is ‘use only a third’ and our sponsor is Winnie and Walter.

I often use the ‘one third’ guide to help me ensure my card is sufficiently CAS! Whenever I’m in doubt, I always try to mentally work out if I have ‘used’ a third of my card base in some way. In my mind, using one third or less = CAS!

I also try to ensure I vary my CAS designs as it’s easy to get stuck with a favourite/’go to’ design, One third doesn’t have to mean a rectangle/square/oval etc, it can be any shape. In fact, I even toyed with masking circles for this challenge!

Anyway, for my card, I masked off approximately one third of my card and blended some Distress Oxide inks (Abandoned Coral, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves) and added some water droplets. I used Winnie & Walter cutaways (dies) for the sentiment and the confetti.

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by two Guest Designers Shay from Winnie and Walter and Ishani from Quillish. They both have some amazing creations on their blogs, so please drop by their sites!

I’m also linking this up to the current Anything Goes with Dies challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.

 

Bursting with Joy

Happy Sunday everyone!

It’s time for a new challenge over at AAA Cards. This fortnight’s theme is ‘ombre’ and our sponsor is Happy Little Stampers.

For my card, I covered cardstock with double-sided adhesive and cut it with the Poppystamps Tree Triptych die before removing the protective top sheet and applying some gilding flakes. Yes, I suppose they can be messy, but I LOVE them! And I find creating inky backgrounds far more messy!! Anyway, I love the textured effect from the flakes, perfect for this die!

I used Dusty Concord distress ink to create an ombre background which I then cut using the same die. I inlaid the gilded die cut and adhered the three images to my card base. To finish off the card, I added a sentiment from Ellen Hutson.

I’m also entering this into the current Poppystamps challenge (clean and simple) and the current Time Out challenge (bold).

My teammates have shared some gorgeous CAS cards on the AAA Cards blog and we are also joined by two Guest Designers – Kylie from Addicted to Stamps and Wei from Handmade Card by Wei. They both have some amazing creations on their blogs, so please drop by their sites!

Thanks for stopping by – I do hope you play along with us!

LucieG.