Hugs & Kisses

Try Stampin' on Tuesdays challenge is Tic Tac Toe: 

I chose diagonal, lower left to upper right, Lace, Heart, Pink:

My lace is a paper doily, but I think that counts, right?!?!  The hugs die is from Lawn Fawn, the (partial) sentiment is from Our Daily Bread.  The pink paper has a wonderful texture that doesn't show up in the photo.  I got a pop up light box for Christmas, but I am not convinced that it helps improve my photos...

Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By for our Magical Beginnings Challenge!!!

Thinking of You!

Kim from Can You Case It? has a great color Pink, Red, Black, and Silver inspiration this week.  I am having so much fun with my Gina Marie "quilt" dies. 

I used an old OWH sketch, then mixed pink and white embossing powder to get the right color for the Our Daily Bread sentiment.  I embossed the square with Divine Swirls to mimic quilting. 

Come play along with us at Words to Craft By for our Mardi Gras challenge!!

Playing around....

I bought some of the pen sized misters, thinking I could make my own.  Well, that didn't work out very well.  I tried to make some using Perfect Pearls, and clogged not one, not two, but three of the misters.  I know, my own fault.  Should have given up after I clogged the first one.  Or even the second!  I finally got one to work, and I now see that I ruined the nozzle - it sprays out too thick, and covers rather than spritzes. 

Cheery Lynn butterflies and Our Daily Bread Hello dies cut with post it paper for masks, Unity sentiment on right.  Tangled Glass Distress Ink.  Simple, but I am very happy with both cards. I am sharing these with Shopping Our Stash Splish Splash (use a wet medium on the project), Less is More Lucky Dip (use sprays or mists), and Addicted to CAS (blue). 

Red, White and Blue - Happy Fourth!!!

Happy Birthday, America!  I have had the privilege of traveling around the world, and have visited many amazing places.  But I always came back.  Thank you to the men and women, from all countries, who have left their families and fought for the right to speak, worship, and live freely.  

The Thank You card is for the Operation Write Home Our Daily Bread Designs challenge.  The other is for the Color My Heart Color Dare #149.  I used the Deconstructed Sketch #46, Bo Bunny Liberty papers, Cuttlebug Stars embossing folder, Spellbinders die cut stars, and Crystal Eye Candy heat set stars.  The Thank You sentiment is from Fiskars, the other from Unity.   Come play along with us at Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com - Friends with Chocolate!!

Missing You Butterflies

Missing You card for Our Daily Bread Designs June challenge, and for the Crooked Stamper Sketch challenge #5.  First the card, then my explanation. 

        

This started out as an attempt at a one layer card, and turned into an opportunity for embellishment.  I stamped the vines, heat embossed, and added the die cut butterflies.  Looking good!  Until I stamped the sentiment CROOKED!  My one layer card had to be trimmed to make the sentiment look straight, without making the vertical element look off kilter.  I had to trim so much that my one layer card now has three layers.  And it looks better with the blue framing the center panel than it did without.  Happy accident!  Unity sentiment, Spellbinder die, watercolor paper, Anna Griffith pigment ink, clear embossing powder. 

ODBD May Challenge - Embossing

Our Daily Bread Designs will pay to ship 2 boxes to our heroes if we link 50 cards to their monthly challenge.  This month, their challenge is to create a card with embossing. 

The paisley panel is embossed with the Sizzix folder Perfectly Paisley, and the blue layer with an old Fiskars texture plate.  Monday starts the June Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com challenge - come play along with us!

Masculine Birthday Card

Operation Write Home is always in need of masculine cards.  Here is one of mine for the OWH April Our Daily Bread Designs challenge:

Basic Grey paper (very old), waxed cotton cord from my beading stash, SU! sentiment. Come play along with us at the Words 2 Scrap By April Challenge - the Earth Has Music!

Shopping Our Stash #181 - Red Alert

This week's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Red Alert, we should use red as the primary color on the project.

I am trying to make some love cards for Operation Write Home before the December 31 deadline.  I will add this to the stash.

We R Memory Keepers washi tape (thanks, Diana!!) with scoring on both sides of the tape, white panel mounted on a red card base, Our Daily Bread Designs sentiment.

There are still a few more days to play along with our December challenge at Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com - Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!!!!

OWH ODBD November Challenge - Hearts

Since the Valentine's Day card deadline come right after Christmas, it is good to get a head start on all of the needed "Love" cards.  Our Daily Bread Designs has challenged us to made a card with at least one heart.  If you visit my blog regularly, you know I believe that how a card feels can be as important as how it looks.   Here is my effort:

Swiss Dots and Scrolls embossing folders, Sizzix die cut heart popped up, white Neena paper, stash satin ribbon and jewels on a dark red card base. 

Be sure to join the Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com November Gratitude challenge: 

You cannot do a kindness too soon because

you never know how soon it will be too late.

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge - Snowflakes

This month, the OWH Our Daily Bread Designs challenge is to make Non-Christmas cards with Snowflakes on them.

I always need thank you cards after the holidays, and I think our heroes will, too.   I decided to take it one step further, and use non-traditional winter colors, too!

DCWV paper embossed with snowflake folder, Fiskars sentiment heat embossed with white embossing powder, stash dimensional snowflake attached with super thin Zots.  

Our Daily Bread Designs Backgrounds Challenge

This month's challenge from the very generous Our Daily Bread Designs is to create a background for a card without using patterned paper.  I have been trying some new techniques, and this challenge fit right into my latest experiments!!!  

I heat embossed the image in white, and then inked the background in Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, and Rusty Hinge.  I think I need a bit more practice, but not too bad for a first try!!!

ODBD August Challenge - Thank You

Oops Note:  I didn't pay attention closely enough, and I can only enter this challenge once.  I had already entered earlier in the month.  I deleted my link up from the OWH page.  They are 2 cards short of the 50 cards needed by Sunday night - help them out!!!!!

This month's challenge from Operation Write Home and Our Daily Bread Designs is to create a thank you card.  Thank YOU ODBD!  Here is my card:

Spellbinder tag die, Above Rubies Studio sentiment, red button and twine from stash, Bo Bunny Liberty paper, Cuttlebug stars embossing folder. 

ODBD August Challenge - Stars!!

Our Daily Bread Designs sponsors a monthly challenge.  If 50 people link up a card, they will pay the shipping cost for TWO boxes of cards for our deployed heroes.  Win for everyone!

This month's challenge if to make a card with stars.  Here is mine:

Spellbinders star dies, twine, heat embossed Fiskars sentiment, Darice wood grain embossing on the wood grain paper.  I like this one!!!  Finally, one I don't have to add to the recycling bin!!!!!

Don't forget to check out this month's challenge over at Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com - From Darkness to Light!!

ODBD May Challenge - Embossing

I LOVE dry embossing, and try to incorporate the technique into every card I make.  I don't always succeed, but I do make an attempt.  Texture is a wonderful addition to most cards, and adds that "something special". 

Here is my response to the Our Daily Bread Designs May Challenge to use embossing on a card:

My Favorite Things image and sentiment, Jelly Roll on her heart, I "think" all of the embossing folders are Cuttlebug. 

OWH Our Daily Bread Challenge - Brown

Our Daily Bread Designs sponsors a monthly challenge, and the winners are our heroes.  They donate the shipping for two boxes of cards.  Thank you, ODBD!  This month's challenge is to make a card using the color brown.  Here is mine:

The Paper Studio Simple Elegance paper.  Cuttlebug die for the sentiment.  Check out the February Challenge over at Words 2 Scrap By  - Colours of the World - the Olympic flag!!!

My Top 13 of 2013

I made my choices based on both the process and the outcome.  Some of the ones included may not be the best outcome, but I learned a lot in the process!!

#13 - Tags
I learned SO much about embossing, die cutting, and weights of cardstock from making these.  And they got many compliments from the recipients!

#12 - This one was a real stretch for me.  I am not a pink girl, but was trying to work outside my comfort zone.  I was pleased with the result!

#11 - Not an OWH sketch, but am so grateful for Paula and her Bootcamp lessons.  I learned so much, and really liked the overall effect of the yellow, grey, and black. 

#10 - My all time favorite papers - Amy Butler Lotus.  I'm on my third pad, and am happily looking for another!!!

 

#9 - What's not to love about winning the OWH Blogger Candy?!?!?!

 

 #8 - I am starting to see a trend here.  My favorite cards are showing a lot of reflective papers.  I will have to use them more. 

  

#7 - Santa card front.  I CASE'ed this from a blog post from Sandy.  The fuzzy red paper was hanging out in my craft room just waiting to be made into this card!

  

 #6 - Silver and blue snowflakes.  Shiny metallic theme going on here....

#5 - ODBD Challenge - Dry embossing.  Love this turquoise pearl paper and darker, textured paper.  I didn't have any organza ribbon that matched, so I dyed it using an ink pad.  Perfect!  Have used that technique a lot since I made this card.  Thank you, ODBD, for supporting OWH!

#4 - Inchie Challenge.  I love how this botched card was saved by thinking a little outside the box. 

 

#3 - Twine and embossing.  One of my most complimented Christmas gifts - monogrammed and embossed note cards.  

 

#2 - Things with Wings.  Loving the embossed gold metallic paper with the intricate die cut butterfly. 

#1 - These are basically the same card with different color schemes.  The Christmas card used an SRM sticker, and the purple Smile card was in response to Paula's Let Me Repeat Bootcamp challenge. 

 

 

I am very grateful to all of my friends and family for helping me through this past year. OWH has been a constant source of learning and self expression for me - thank you.  I receive so much more than I can ever give to OWH.  It hasn't been easy, but I have learned how blessed I am.

As a way of starting fresh, my OWH friend Sybrina from Scrapping With Purpose (now There's Always the Other Side) and I have started a new monthly challenge blog.  Join us for Words 2 Scrap By!!! Our first challenge is based on the Sound of Music song My Favorite Things.  In honor of our inaugural challenge - I am offering a My Favorite Things (another great supporter of OWH!) stamp set as blog candy!  All you need to do is become a follower of our new blog (Words 2 Scrap By) to win!  Random.org will choose a winner on January 6, 2014.  You MUST be a follower of Words 2 Scrap By to win.  Thank you!!

NOT a Card!!!!

If you follow my posts, you already know that I had a great Craig's List score a few weeks ago - a gallon bag of embossing powders for next to nothing.  I had some time to play today, and wanted to learn more them, what works, what doesn't, and practice using the powders.  I learned a lot, and came out with these:

A few years ago, I gave my friends wooden boxes full of gift tags for Christmas, thank you, birthday, etc.  Every year, I replenish their boxes!!  Thought these tags were a great way to learn, without creating a lot of trash. 

I learned that:

• I can heat emboss on foil paper.
• Just because one color and brand has great coverage, it doesn't mean that all of that color or brand work well.  Just like ink, and paper, and stamps, and...
• Glittery embossing powder is just as bad as glitter when it comes to the mess.
• The stamp used matters A LOT, some I thought would be great, weren't (the green trees).  Others I thought would be too detailed, weren't (the gold stars on black and red).
• The higher the contrast between the paper and the powder, the more striking the effect.  Less contrast, more subtle effect. 
• I can emboss with one color, and emboss the same image with another stamp and powder without burning or over-melting the original embossed image (the red, gold, and white Silent Night tags).
• I need to learn about/buy something to remove static from my paper to avoid stray flecks on my final product. 
• Hmmm.  Wonder if I could dry emboss, them tap on ink and then heat emboss?  SO much to learn!!!

Fun, productive day!!!

Tag and sentiment stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs, snowflakes from Martha Stewart, Spellbinder dies, VersaMark watermark ink, various brands/colors of powders. 

Loads of Love Card with Button Wheels

I inked up one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets, Loads of Love, today. 

I had a major Craig's List score a few weeks ago.  One of the things I bought was a gallon bag of embossing powders.  Wow!  I love how embossing looks, but I obviously need more practice.  The hearts and sentiment are heat embossed, and the red paper is dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  Stash ribbon.

This card is part of the Our Daily Bread Designs September challenge to make a card with wheels, and the Drunken Stampers Challenge #140 to make a card with buttons.  Thus, button wheels!!!!  Our Daily Bread Designs will pay to ship 2 boxes of cards through Operation Write Home if 50  cardmakers respond to their challenge. 

Our Daily Bread Things That Fly Challenge

Every month, Our Daily Bread Designs has a challenge to support Operation Write Home.  For every 25 entries to their challenge, they will pay the postage for one box of cards to our deployed military.  Win Win!!  Kelley and Rick are wonderful people with wonderful products.

Here is my "Things That Fly" card:

Spellbinder dies, Offray organza ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder, silver vellum sticker that I stuck to a piece of clear plastic, and fussy cut.  I folded the wings to give me a flat middle to glue, and wings that popped up.  As usual, the picture does not do this one justice...

OWH Our Daily Bread Dry Embossing Challenge

Our Daily Bread Designs offers a monthly challenge.  The prize?  A shipping donation for Operation Write Home!  Everyone wins!!!!  Their stamps are really crisp and clean.  I love the ones that coordinate with Spellbinders dies. 

This month, their challenge is to use dry embossing. 

Here is mine:

This card was super hard to photograph and capture the embossing, especially since I struggle with photos in general. 

The light turquoise paper is iridescent. The ribbon matches the dark turquoise paper perfectly. 

Sizzix embossing folder.  Clearly Defined stamp.  Martha Stewart ink.