Digital Tuesday Challenge "Monochromatic"

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is "Monochromatic".  Simply make a card or project that uses a monochromatic color scheme and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Spesch Designer Stamps and they are giving away three digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used the Spesch Designer Stamp 'Ashley Digital Stamp by Sylvia' and a sketch from 'The Deconstructed Sketch' (Sketch 59).  My monochomatic color scheme is obviously pink!  When making monochromatic cards, I always find its best to use lots of texture to create interest.  So the solid 'Pretty in Pink' background was embossed with an 'Argyle' Cuttlebug Embossing Folder.  The pink dot paper is retired Stampin Up!, and I added even more texture with pink pom pom trim and organza ribbon.  I popped the image panel up on dimensionals twice, and added two buttons for embellishment.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

July Christmas Cards

Hello!  Today I have my July Christmas Cards to show you.  As most of you already know, I play the Christmas Card Challenge on Splitcoaststampers where we make Christmas Cards all year long so were not overwhelmed when December comes!  I make four Christmas Cards a month so I'll have around 50 by Christmas time.  Forgive my 'dark' photos.  I had to take the pictures just as the sun was setting to get them in on time for the challenge.

My first card is very simple, but I love it's simplicity.  The sketch is from Clean and Simple.  The stamp is retired Stampin Up! "Holiday Basics'.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the star is embossed in silver, and there are adhesive sequins for the ornaments.  So it has a lot more interest in real life.

 My second card is an exact case from a card I saw on Pinterest.  I would love to give credit to the creator of this card, but the person who pinned it only linked to Splitcoaststampers, and not to the card itself.  So if you know who the original artist is, please let me know.  I just loved the simplicity of the buttons on the Kraft paper.  So pretty.

 My third card uses an old Stampin Up! image  "Baby Jesus is Born', and a sketch by Sweet Sunday (162).  The flower, sentiment, and creamy caramel border were created from MFT dies, the rest are Nesties.

 And finally, my last card is my favorite.  I just love it's whimsical nature.  I used last week's Splitcoaststampers Sketch ((SC395) and embellies from the Dollar Bins at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts.  The paper is from DCWV.

Have a great day! Amy

Making Signs with your Cricut Expression

Hello!  Today I have a sign I made for our church library.  Since our church library shares the same space as our church office,our librarian asked me to come up with something to put outside our church office to  let our congregation know we have a library.  I played around with several ideas.   At first I was just going to print something on the computer and put it in a picture frame, but the size of the wall wasn't right for that.  Then I was going to just cut letters out of vinyl using my Cricut and adhere that directly to the wall but I wasn't sure about that one either.  I was worried about how long the letters would actually stick to the wall and if there would be any damage to the paint.  Then, I just kept seeing these quote signs in all the stores and thought, 'I could do that!'.  So first I asked my handy dandy husband to cut me a piece of wood and bevel the edges.  I know, that's the real hard part, especially if you don't have a handy dandy husband and all the tools to go with it!  But I'm lucky that way.  Then I stained the whole piece of wood to match the stain of the woodwork at church.  Then I used a ruler and penciled in a line about an inch from the beveled edge.  I painted on an 'Antique White' acrylic paint, let that dry and using a feather brush, very lightly painted on some darker brown to give it more interest.  Then I painted a dark black line along the entire sign where the stain and paint met.  

Now, here's where the Cricut comes in handy.  I cut out my letters using two different fonts.  And unlike stencils, where you are limited to the size of the letters of the stencils, I could size my letters EXACTLY to the size I needed.  Then, I could place my letters directly on my sign so I could play around with them and see where I wanted the letters to go (another thing you can't do with stencils).  After I positioned my letters where I thought they looked best, I hand drew around each one with a pencil then I removed the letters and filled in around the pencil lines with paint.  If you don't want to paint the letters, you could also just use the Cricut Vinyl and adhere the letters directly to the board.  But I wanted the 'hand-made look', so I chose to paint them on.

Here's the finished sign: 

And here is a close up so you can see the painting better.  I also outlined all the letters with a fine brush in black.

Now I realize most of you don't need to make a sign for a public place like I did, but I thought you'd enjoy seeing this if you wanted to make a sign for your home using a favorite quote or Bible Verse. 

Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'An Inspiration Room'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is a picture of an interior living space of a home.  Simply make a card or project that is inspired by the picture (Sparkles, Retro, and Vintage Glam).  Our sponsor this week is Mayzy Art and they are giving away five digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used the Mayzy Art image "Shawna with Latte".  I was 'inspired' by all the pinks and browns in the inspiration room so those colors dominate my card.  I was also inspired by all the shiny gold so I used a gold glitter card stock behind my white card stock, plus I put Stickles on Shawna's skirt and belt.  The card is your typical card size 4 1/4 by 5 1/2.  I printed the image large enough to fit the majority of the white space.  The hearts were made with a little heart punch.  The sentiment is retired Stampin Up!

And here is the inspiration room for you to be inspired by.  Isn't it beautiful?

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge "All Tied Up"

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'All Tied Up'.  Simply make a card or project that uses ribbon, string, whatever, and tie it up!  Our sponsor this week is My Hearts Pieces.

To make my card I used the My Hearts Pieces image "Beautiful Nature".  My sketch is from Splitcoaststampers (SC392).  The paper is Prima 'Botanicals'.  The sentiment is a dimensional sticker purchased in the dollar bins at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts.  I used a real paper doily, and I put Stickles on all the flowers, but you can't see that in the picture.  I used an organza ribbon with a gold edge for my 'tied up' element.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Teal Anniversary Card

Hello!  Today I have a card that I actually made awhile ago, but I couldn't show it to you until now because it was for my daughter and son-in-law's 2nd Anniversary and I didn't want her to see it on the Internet before she got it.  I made it for the Featured Stamper Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  You can see the card I cased HERE. 

As most of you already know, my crafting time is becoming less and less everyday, so I'm leaning towards more simple designs that still look polished and put together and have a 'wow' factor.  I find if you use great designer paper that is textured, or pre-glittered, it really helps.  The designer paper is DCWV 'Be Mine' Stack.  I used blue glitter paper for the edge.  And the sentiment 'love' is a coordinating sticker you can buy separately that matches the paper.  The stamped sentiment is from Inkadinkado 'Weddings/Anniversary'.  Lastly, a little machine stitching adds an extra personal touch to a very simple card.

Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Inside Out'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Inside Out'.  Simply make a card like you normally would, but this time decorate the inside too!  Just be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Digi Stamps.

To make my card, I used the Bugaboo Brats Image 'Soccer Boy'.  My layout is by Clean and Simple.  The designer paper is retired Stampin Up! 'Parisean Breeze'.  I put the little boy up on dimensionals after I printed him on white cardstock and cut him out.  The stars were cut with a Cuttlebug Die.   

Here's the inside of the card.  The sentiments and soccer images are from TCP Studios.  I stamped the balls and the Happy Birthday sentiment directly on the Kraft paper, but the All Star sentiment I stamped on white card stock and then cut it out just to highlight it a bit.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Poor Guy

My daughter's friend recently broke his leg and has to spend the rest of his summer in a cast.  My husband and I felt so bad for him, so we sent him a small gift card with this card that I made.  The image is from Teddybo, I don't remember where I got this sketch from.  The paper is Kraft, Chocolate Chip, and retired Stampin Up!.  I kept it clean and simple since it's for a guy, just adding a few brads, buttons, and hints of ribbon for embellishment.

Have a great day!  Today so should be the last day of the heat wave for us, then back to the eighties! Yippee! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Kids!'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Kids!'.  Simply make a card or project a kid would like and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is "The Cutting Cafe" and they are giving away three sets to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used 'The Cutting Cafe'  set 'Pinwheel Sentiment Template'.  This is a fabulous set of four different sizes and three different styles of pinwheels you can make and a great assortment of sentiments to go with them.  I used the standard style of pinwheel and the smallest size and printed it onto double sided designer paper.  I then simply assembled the pinwheel following the really easy to follow instructions and adhered to the card with a brad and lots of glue.  I attached a Wilton Candy Stick to the back of the Pinwheel, and added some matching ribbon for embellishment.  My sketch is by MFT (MFTWSC74) and the paper is Lime Twist 'Fly a Kite'.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy