Blue & White Challenge (x2)

Another week, another challenge. 
I had such a good time following the Winter Wonderland challenge last week, I decided to try another challenge (or 2) this week. I selected Crafting for All Seasons - #19 Color Challenge - Blue & White and Winter Wonderland  also Blue & White.
Be sure check them out here:
Crafting for All Seasons - #19 - Color Challenge, Blue & White
Winter Wonderland - Blue and White Challenge

The idea for both is to create a card using ONLY blue and white.

I was really loving the window cutout I used last week, and am still having fun playing around with creating textured flowers using my Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge.
So, started with a card with a lovely scalloped edge (Another Michael's $1 bin find!!!).
I cut out the window, using Cricut Christmas cartridge, altered to cut only the window openings using my Gypsy. After cutting the window opening, I ran this through the cuttlebug using a QuickCutz folder, from the 'Whimsy' set. I added blue glitter dots to the embossing on the card.
I then cut the same window out of white cardstock, and then a third blackout version out of vellum.
I cut out a bunch of Poinsettia looking petals form glitter blue and soft blue cardstock. I assembled the flowers similar to the rose tutorial I shared from Selma's blog last week. (Check last week's post for the link)
I cut some Holly leaves from the Cricut Winter Wandering cartridge on white glitter cardstock, and some berry frou-frou from ultra glitter blue cardstock.
Finally, I cuts some small snowflakes from the Cricut Christmas cartridge. And a sentiment from a DCWV winter theme card stack.
I layered everything on the card and added a bit of transparent blue ribbon. I used foam dots on the sentiment, and clear dots on the snowflakes for added dimension.
I felt it was missing something, so I added the cute stamped Santa behind the window, stamped in blue ink. It added a bit of whimsy, don't you think?
Anyway, here it is:

The second picture has this weird blue cast for some reason, but you can see the glitter a bit better.

As always, many thanks to the fabulous DT @ Crafting for All Seasons and Winter Wonderland for continuing to bring us these wonderful challenges.
Blessings!
Kat

Swirls and Pearls Challenge entry

I love to surf the web for inspiration for my cards and I came across this lovely blog: Selma's Stamping Corner http://selmasstampingcorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/bloom-where-you-are-planted-plus.html . There I found a fabulous tutorial on how to make paper roses. I had to try it! It is a bit time consuming, probably because it's still new - but SO worth the effort. I have to share.

I decide to find a challenge where I could use this new technique. I went with Winter Wonderland - Swirls & Pearls challenge. http://christmasblogchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/01/swirls-and-pearls.html . The challenge was to create a card using swirls and pearl embellishments.

This week is not a Christmas Card, so I decided to make a Valentine Card. I felt that would fit perfectly with the roses I created. I was also inspired by Selma's use of white on white with loads of texture and detail, so I thought I would try that also. I think everything came together beautifully.

• I created a 5 x 5 card from my Cricut Wild Card cartridge.
• I then cut out a window from the center of the card using the Cricut Christmas cartridge - altered with my Gypsy to just cut the window openings.
• I then re-cut the shape on white cardstock, unaltered.
• I embossed the top portion of the card with my Quickcutz floral embossing folder - Rose. I felt the roses went well with the paper roses, and the centers have a lovely swirl shape to them.
• I cut some embellishments swirls from the Cricut Home decor cartridge, and some floral Baby's Breath from Cricut Serenade cartridge (both in white cardstock) and added a bunch of pearls.
• I then layered everything, using foam squares to give some height and 'oomph' to my embellishments.
• I have this super cute stamp, I think from the $1 bin at Michael's (can't beat that, right???). I added this to the un-embossed section at the bottom of the card, and heat embossed with a translucent red pearl powder. I love how the X's have little swirls on them, fits right with the theme.

I specifically did not add a sentiment to the inside, as I am not sure who the recipient is going to be yet...

OK, so here you have it. The first picture shows the whole card, and the second is an attempt to show just the the detail of the stamp - a bit blurry though.

As always, many many thanks to the talented desing teams that give me constant inspiration for my cardmaking. And a super big thanks to Selma for posting the wonderful rose tutorial.

Blessings!

Kat