Category: SIMPLICITY at its best

CAS Watercolored Autumn Die Cuts

It’s September, and with that, we begin the fall season! I know that the equinox, marking the beginning of fall, isn’t until later in the month. But to me, the season has arrived, and after a summer drought, the leaves here in the Pacific Northwest are already turning gold and red. My CAS card features the 51-072 Autumn Jewels die cut set from Penny Black paired with a sentiment cut with word die in the 51-040 Hello Frame set.

HelloFall

I painted watercolor paper with Peerless watercolors. Once dry, I cut out the leaves with the Autumn Jewels dies. I cut the Hello out of brown cardstock three times for additional depth. For additonal interest and texture, I adhered the leaves and sentiment onto textured cardstock and added twine.

Penny Black Simplicity Fronds Background

Today I’m sharing two CAS cards featuring the Penny Black #40-314 Fronds background stamp.

WorldtoMe

For both cards, I inked white cardstock with Distress Inks (Salty Ocean and Twisted Citron) directly onto the paper. I then stamped the Fronds stamp onto the inked paper with Versamark ink for a subtle tone-on-tone effect. This technique was shown by Jennifer McGuire in the Online Card Classes Background Check class. For the first card, I added a heat-embossed sentiment from the #30-286 Heartfelt set and a butterfly cut with a die in the #51-132 Flights of Fancy set.

HelloBkngd

For the second card, I added a sentiment cut with the #51-104 Hello die. I cut it three times for depth and cut off the extension of the “o.”

Penny Black Simplicity – Silhouette Floral

Today, I’m sharing a CAS summer-themed card showcasing the Penny Black #40-374 Effulgence stamp set.

SweetDayFloral

I created the background by smooshing a combination of Distress Inks onto the mixed media paper/cardstock. Once the background was dry, I stamped the Penny Black #40-374 Effulgence image in black ink and added a sentiment from the Penny Black #30-280 A Sweet Day set. I cut the panel with a scalloped die and adhered it to a colored cardstock background.

Penny Black Simplicity – Winged Beauty

Today, I’m sharing two cards featuring Penny Black stamps #40-376 Winged Beauty and #30-297 Sprinkles and Smiles.

SoSweetBirdHorizontal

For both cards, I stamped the sentiment from #30-297 Sprinkles and Smiles first. I coloredthe bird on a branch and the branch images (from the #40-376 Winged Beauty set), with Memento markers before stamping. I tried a number of color combinations before selecting Bahama Blue, Tangelo, Bamboo Leaves and Rosebud. For the horizontal card, I cut the stamped panel with a rectangle die and adhered it with dimensional adhesive to a woodgrain-embossed cardstock.

SoSweetBirdVertical

For my second card, I stamped directly onto the card base for a one-layer card and used a vertical design.