Palm Fronds in front of a Wall

This past week my boys were on spring break and we went to Washington, D.C. for a few days. I had never been there myself. Boy, is there a lot to see - too much for one visit! All that history! We enjoyed it very much and hope to go back again some day!

This afternoon I made three cards which is quite unusual for me! I will show you one of them (can't show you the other two yet).

Stamp: Hero Arts (sentiment)
Die: Hero Arts (palm fronds)
Other: stencil (TCW)


This card makes me happy in several ways:
First, I absolutely love these palm fronds from Hero Arts.
Second, I finally used this die that I got from a2z Scrapbooking store, when I won their challenge quite a while ago (why, oh why, did it take me so long??).
Third, I used a watercolored background that didn't come out quite as I hoped it would (I was trying my hand on the faux glazed glass technique that Sandy Allnock mastered so beautifully - me not so much) but instead of throwing it out I used it for die cutting and really like it now. Not wasting anything always makes my happy!
Lastly, a long time ago I bought a holder full of Whisper ink pads but never use them because I find them too light/dry for stamping. Somebody who purges regularly would have thrown them out long ago but today I discovered they are perfect for lightly sponging through a stencil!


Challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking Challenge April "Watercoloring"



CAS Mix Up Challenge "April"







Thanks so much for stopping by!

Be well,

Graphic Friend Card

Remember this card? I didn't use all the tinted Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel and couldn't just wash it down the drain! So I quickly grabbed another stencil and sheet of card stock. This weekend I made this card from it.

Stamps: SSS (sentiment)
Dies: SSS (you)
Other: Stencil (Hero Arts), Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel, Marvy Ink


Challenges:


Time Out Challenge #37 (Friendship is Golden)






a2z scrapbooking (August Challenge - Texture)
Use at least one main image from Hero Arts - stencil
The texture is from the gel and the die cut



Muse Challenge #129 
Fabulous card by Anita Bowden






Pixies Snippets Playground Week #190
The "you" is cut from a snippet and the golden strips are also snippets!


Click on the links to find out all the details and get inspired by wonderful design teams and galleries!

Thanks for taking time to stop by! Your visits and comments always make my day!

Hugs,
Susanne

Another CAS card for CAS(E) this sketch #132

As I said in my last post I had several ideas for sketch #132 of CAS(E) this sketch... That's why I am back so soon! And don't worry this time it is a card for a happier occasion!

Stamps: Hero Arts (flower), Technique Tuesday (sentiment)

The flower is heavily "winked" which is always hard to photograph. Here is a close up. Sorry it's not quite focused...

Challenges:

CAS(E) this sketch #132






a2z Scrapbooking July challenge "CAS"


And here are some more pictures from California. The last week we spent in the San Francisco Bay area on the coast. It was very hard to pick just a few from the many photos I took!
(You can see more pictures from our trip here and here)

Boardwalk in Santa Cruz

(Doesn't that roller coaster remind you of the die that SSS recently came out with?)

Big Sur

Along Highway 1 towards San Francisco

(Check out the coastal fog!)

That's about as much as we saw of the Golden Gate Bridge...

Capitola

And look what I found when we came back! 

Even the potatoes were sad that we were away for so long...

If you made it through the whole post - my compliments! 

Thank you for your visit and your kind comments! If you have any questions, please let me know!

Hugs,

Susanne

You Rock in graphic and rainbow colors

Popping in with a card that is CAS, graphic, mostly black and white with a splash of rainbow colors. It makes me really happy. Hope it has the same effect on you!
I stamped the background stamp with Versafine black ink on white, colored the spaces, cut off a strip, and then fussy cut around the pattern. Mounted it on a strip of black cardstock (because my younger son liked how it made it pop), then on a white card and stamped the sentiment.

Stamps: Hero Arts (diamond background), Simon Says Stamp (sentiment)
Other: Faber-Castell Polychromos


Challenges:

A Blog Named Hero "Photo Inspiration"

a2z Scrapbooking "CAS"

Click on the links for all the details and then play along!

Here are more pictures from our trip! 

Devil's Postpile near Mammoth Lakes

Elizabeth Lake near Mammoth

Yosemite Valley with Half Dome from Glacier Point

Mono Lake

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and that you have time to get crafty! 

Thank you for your visit!

Hugs,

Susanne