Oh how fun!!!

...that's exactly how I feel about being creative and working on cards for challenges.  Today, I have already finished up quite a few cards and I'm happy to be sharing them with you now.   I'll start by sharing two more cards that had been inspired by "Card Club" which is a monthly class/group that I enjoy taking at my LSS.  As I had noted on a previous post our theme for this month was Clean and Simple which has fast become my favorite card style, but one I still need to work on.

   This first card is really nice and it's pretty much a case of the card that was our Muse in class.   We started with a Kraft card base and took this lovely "leave" stamps (not sure on the company name) and stamped it twice on our card.  The first time in the Hero Arts Cup O' Joe and the second time in a lighter \shade called "Wet Cement" -- two awesome shadow inks that look really nice on Kraft!!    Using the two shades almost gives the look of second generation stamping.   In class we completed the card by adding one layer of Washi tape across the bottom.  However, I wanted to add a Sentiment on top, which I did at home, so I made certain to stamp my leaves lower on the card base, leaving me plenty of room for this sentiment, which is one of my favorites from this Hero Arts set.  It's still very much a CAS card and one I really like and a type of design I know I'll use again.

  And next is another card that had originally been part of the class, but this one I also changed up a tiny bit to make it my own, by changing the placement of the Washi tape and again adding my own sentiment and banner that I created at home a brand new set of stamps from this month's Simon Says Card Kits.  It's part of the same set I used earlier this week and is another set that was designed by Kristina Werner!   These stamps are awesome and I LOVE how well they ink and and stamp such clear and crisp images and letters!!  

   Next, I have a brand new card that I created this morning that was inspired by the Paper a la Mode Challenge, hosted every Saturday at The Outlawz Challenges.   This week we were provided with this inspiration photo and I knew right away that I wanted to use the delicate patterns, along with the blue and white color theme as my main inspiration.    I knew this wonderful set of papers was exactly where I wanted to start.    This set was part of our class packet and I absolutely LOVE it!!  The shades or blue are so pretty and it's a company (Papermania), that I had never heard of until Tuesday, but one I think I'll look for more in the future -- especially since I'm such a fan of Pretty Patterned Papers!!

Inspiration Photo

   I cut a variety of different shapes and put it all together on a white (Snow Card) from Hero Arts.  I also used an assortment of punches (Stampin' Up and Martha Stewart), to create the circles,  flower and button I added to tied on top with blue and white Baker's Twine.   I then picked out a matching Shadow Ink (Mid-Tone Cornflower) and a cute sentiment from Paper Smooches which I stamped on white and layered onto matching blue cardstock.   

  Next, is a card I created for the newest Cas(E) This Sketch - Challenge # 17, which you can find HERE!  I have also copied over this week's Sketch to share and hopefully inspire you to join the fun.   This time, I actually created two cards, as I did NOT love my first one, but as always, I'm sharing them both!!

My First try....

And my second card, which I like better,

do you??

   I still am struggling a bit with the whole CAS Style, but not giving up and love that these challenges really help me see so many wonderful ideas.  It's also fun simply to play and learn at the same time, which is why I'm such a fan of challenges and play in several!!

   My next card, which may be the last card I finish today, was inspired for this week's "Copic/Alcohol Marker Challenge" also hosted at The Outlawz Challenges.  The theme for this week is pets and I just happened to have this sweet and adorable little "Pup" stamp that I ordered from Whipper Snapper Design, last weekend.  I saw a really cute card that one of the OWH gals had designed with a Whipper Snapper stamp and it reminded me how much I LOVE their cute and whimsical images.   Needless to say, you'll see a few more cards featuring these cute stamps over the next few days.  I loved so many it was hard not to spend a fortune, but I could not resist adding some new cuties to my collection.   

  Isn't that one of the cutest stamps ever....?  I sure think so and I colored him with my copics to be the same color as my dog - Scout, a Dachshund, I totally LOVE!!   I have been looking for little Dachshund images, but still haven't found one I think reminds me of Scout.  This cuties reminds me more of "Trace" my son, Brain's adorable rescue dog.   As you can see this is also a very CAS style card and was super quick and easy to make.  I think it took about 15 minutes, from start to finish and I LOVE it!!   I also thought the sentiment (from Paper Smooches) was perfect!!   

  Heading back to my desk to clean up a bit and then see what other challenges I can play in.  I know I want to work on a card for this the challenge at Die Cut Diva's and I think that will be next.  If you would like to play, you can find all the details HERE!!   They also have a wonderful group on Flickr, which you'll find here!