Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Welcome Home

Wow, how did it get to be November?!  The weeks are just flying by, and it's already time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call.  Check out our lovely inspiration photo:

Our sponsor for this challenge is Paper Issues, and they are offering a $20 gift certificate to the LEAD for the Welcome Home challenge.  Thank you, Paper Issues!

I was drawn to the soft blue, weathered wooden door in the background and the placement of the wreath off the edge of the photo.

To create this card, I first stamped the woodgrain pattern with white ink onto blue cardstock.  I ran my finger over the ink while it was still wet to soften it and remove any excess ink.

I don't have a wreath stamp large enough for the design I had in mind, so I created one using the single pine bough stamp from WPlus9's Merry & Bright.  I traced a circle in pencil where I wanted the wreath to go, then stamped the pine sprig repeatedly along that line.

The pine cone stamp is also from Merry & Bright.  The berries, sentiment, and ribbon are from WPlus9's Silver Bells.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 (Lake House, White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 (Merry & Bright, Silver Bells, Woodgrain Silhouettes)

Ink:  WPlus9 (White), Stampin' Up! (Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Raspberry Ripple)

Tools:  WPlus9 (Silver Bells companion dies), corner rounder

Other:  Zig (Wink of Stella glitter brush)

I'm sorry if the colors seem a little washed out in my photos.  My computer is one that was issued by the college where I work, and it was recently upgraded to a newer version.  Unfortunately, the screen resolution is not as good and I will have to get used to editing my photos on it.

There's more inspiration from the talented Curtain Call Crew to help you get started!  I look forward to seeing all of the beautiful entries in the gallery this week.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful start to your weekend.

CAS-ual Fridays #92--Wallpaper

Helloooo March!  Does anyone else think February is the longest month?  Just me?  Well, I'm always glad when it's over, because once you hit March you can finally start talking about spring with some real hope that it's just around the corner.  So hooray for March!

Not only is there a new challenge at CAS-ual Fridays today, but we have a fantastic sponsor and the debut of our newest Girl Fridays.  Go on over and give them a warm welcome!

The theme this week is wallpaper:  stamp a background on your clean and simple design.  Who doesn't love doing that?

To add to the fun, our wonderful sponsor, Ellen Hutson, is offering up a $25 gift certificate to this week's winner.  And who wouldn't love to add some more papercrafting goodies to their stash?

I've been dying to try out WPlus9's white ink on a kraft background using the woodgrain border from Woodgrain Silhouettes, so I did just that for today's card.  I stamped the border three times to cover the card base.  

Next, I stamped the large leafy flourish from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions in navy over the top.  Hello, gorgeous!  And what a nice coincidence that Jennifer McGuire posted a video about this technique (apparently it's called "ghost stamping") just a few days ago.

I stamped the sentiment onto a wide strip of white cardstock, layered a strip of navy on top and another strip below the white border.  Some foam dots behind the sentiment panel add dimension while keeping the design flat for mailing.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes & Additions), Papertrey Ink (Through the Trees)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Hoping I don't need a sympathy card anytime soon, but it's essential to have one or two on hand.

Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to be serving as a Girl Friday for another term?  And how honored I am to have such incredible teammates?  You won't want to miss any of their designs, so be sure to pay a visit to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see the entire line-up of inspiration.

TGIF, friends!  Have a great weekend!

Carbon Copied & CR84FN40

Hello out there!  You're in for a special treat this morning.  I am absolutely thrilled to be posting alongside my friend Karen Baker from The Bald Dragonfly as her guest for Carbon Copied.  This is a fun little feature on Karen's blog where she and another designer use the same stamp set and same challenge, then post their creations at the same time.  You can read more about it HERE.  

Karen and I decided to use a favorite pair of stamp sets, WPlus9's Woodgrain Silhouettes and Additions, along with the color challenge at CR84FN.

I used just Woodgrain Silhouettes to create my CAS card, as well as a couple of other WPlus9 goodies.  First I used the Label Layers 3 die to mask and stamp a woodgrain frame onto kraft cardstock.  A gorgeous sentiment from Very Vintage Greetings was stamped directly on top of that, then the panel was debossed with PTI's Linen & Canvas impression plate.

I stamped the flowers (from Woodgrain Silhouettes) onto cream cardstock and cut them out by hand, then adhered them with foam dots.  A few red pearls and a red satin bow add a punch of color.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes, Very Vintage Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip), Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (ribbon), Queen & Co. (pearls)

I can't wait to see what Karen has created with the same stamps and color combo--it is sure to be inspiring!  Make sure you hop over and leave her some love.

Thanks for inviting me to play along this week, Karen!  And thanks to everyone else for stopping by today!