Crazy 4 Challenges

It's been awhile since I've played along with the Crazy 4 Challenges, but the theme is to use flowers this week, so that's a no brainer for me since it's my fave subject to stamp! 

This is one of those cards that doesn't make me happy when I hold it (for you Marie Kondo fans...you know what I mean!).  I colored with Zig watercolor markers and just wasn't satisfied with the end results.  I'm going to need to practice some more! The color combo is one from a former Color Throwdown challenge and got rejected (by me) as a sample for that week - lol! I guess I was feeling guilty, so brought it out again and am posting it for the C4C floral challenge.  The sun was finally shining today and warmed things up into the upper 60's and THAT definitely made me happy!  :-)

STAMPS: Hello Lovely (Concord and 9th)

Crazy 4 Challenges #338

Sadly, this is the last week for me guesting with the Crazies at Crazy 4 Challenges. Thanks to Barbara for the invitation...it's been a fun month!  With May coming to an end, it means the school year is also coming to an end.  Our challenge is to create a teacher thank you card...but...if you don't have a need for a teacher TY card, just create a generic TY card instead.  We can ALL use those in our stash!  

I knew right away I wanted to use Reverse Confetti's Class Act stamp set.  The polka dotted apple is just the sweetest!  I used a number of Confetti Cuts dies: Class Act, Posted Note, Documented, Office Edges. The designer paper is Back to School by Recollections.

For more inspiration by the rest of the talented team, please click on the the links below:

• Anja de Regt
• Barbara Anders 
• Frances Byrne
• Jen Benner
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Karen Aicken
• Maryann Einam
• Peggy McCurry
• Raquel Mason
• Rebecca Ednie
• Vicki Burdick

We hope to see you in the gallery this week!  You can go HERE to link up your creation.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Crazy 4 Challenges #337

Hello everyone! May is flying by quickly and we're already on the 3rd week at Crazy 4 Challenges! This is sketch week and I know you will love this sketch!  I love pairing up this sunny yellow CS with black and white (PTI calls it Harvest Gold), because it brings a bit of sunshine to my stamp room in the midst of rain, rain and more rain!

The diagonal stripes background stamp by MFT is one of my favorite stamps because it works when I don't have patterned paper in the colors I want!  I really mixed up the companies on this card...Stitched dies from Lil' Inker Designs...Hello sentiment from Altenew's Painted Greetings stamp set...Floral and Flutter Dies by Concord and 9th (I'm really loving these open and airy flowers!)...Oval punch by SU...and as I already mentioned - the Diagonal Stripes BG by MFT.  ***A tiny tip with using large background stamps: I use my MISTI tool so I can stamp more than once if I don't get perfect coverage with the first inking.

For more inspiration from the rest of the design team, please go to the links below:

• Anja de Regt
• Barbara Anders 
• Frances Byrne
• Jen Benner
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Karen Aicken
• Maryann Einam
• Peggy McCurry
• Raquel Mason
• Rebecca Ednie
• Vicki Burdick

Thanks so much for stopping by and we hope to see you in the challenge gallery!  You can link up your creations HERE.

Crazy 4 Challenges #336

Are you ready for another fun challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges? May's flower of the month is lily of the valley - typically white in color.  The challenge is to use white flowers on our creation!  Here is my take on it...

I gold embossed the flower on vellum then fussy cut, colored the leaves on the back side with BG34 Copic marker.  I stamped the flower again on white CS and cut it out and attached it to the vellum using a light spray of Elmer's Craft Bond. I sponged Coastal Cabana ink using a Tweed Pattern stencil by Hero Arts for a subtle background pattern.  I layered the happy sentiment using 3 die cuts - two of Coastal Cabana CS and one of black...slightly offset to give a shadow effect. 

STAMPS: You've Got This (SU), Wet Paint (PTI).
DIES: Stitched rectangles and circles by Lil' Inker Designs; Wet Paint (PTI).

For more inspiration from the rest of the design team, please click on the links below:

• Anja de Regt
• Barbara Anders 
• Frances Byrne
• Jen Benner
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Karen Aicken
• Maryann Einam
• Peggy McCurry
• Raquel Mason
• Rebecca Ednie
• Vicki Burdick

Hope you'll join us this week...have a good day because it's a good day for it! :-)

Crazy 4 Challenges #335

I've got great news!  I'm excited to share that I'm a guest designer on the Crazy 4 Challenges blog for the month of May!  Barbara is the hostess and because it's her birth month and emerald is the gemstone, she's asking us to create a card using emerald green!  Well, green happens to be my favorite color, so this made me do a happy dance!  Then came the dilemma of choosing an ink.  I have a LOT of greens, but SU's Gumball Green seemed to be the closest to an emerald color.  Here's my card...

The design just seemed right to choose a sympathy sentiment. Sadly, I'm needing to send this to a coworker who lost her mother this week.

STAMPS: Kinda Eclectic (leaves and butterfly), Loving Thoughts (sentiment) - both by SU.
ACCESSORIES: Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by MFT; Stitched Line by Lil' Inker Designs; Butterfly punch by SU; Adhesive pearls.

To see what the rest of the design team has created, follow these links:

• Anja de Regt
• Barbara Anders 
• Frances Byrne
• Jen Benner
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Karen Aicken
• Maryann Einam
• Peggy McCurry
• Raquel Mason
• Rebecca Ednie
• Vicki Burdick

Here's hoping you will play along with the challenge this month and post your entry HERE.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

National Umbrella Month

 It's been awhile since I've played along with the Crazy 4 Challenges team, and in the process, I learned something...it's National Umbrella Month!  I really dug into some oldies but goodies when I dusted off this umbrella stamp set and die by MFT and used this older 6x6 Splendid Sunshine paper pad by Echo Park.  I also used the Stitched Rounded Rectangles Die-Namics and the Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by MFT.  I'm using the layout for the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #266.  I don't know how I got screwed up thinking this was the current sketch.  It was current...FOUR MONTHS ago!  Doh!!  Oh well...it works.  The umbrella base and the sentiment ink is Night of Navy (SU).  Here's a look at the inside...

CAS & Crazy 4 Challenges

Good Monday morning...again! My mojo card is in the previous post (scroll below). I decided to create a quick card for the CAS Challenge on SCS - use stitching (real or faux) and combined it with the Crazy for Challenges theme to use black and white with a pop of one color. The square stitched die is by Lil' Inker Designs and snowflake die is by SU. Patterned paper is from Authentique's irresistible pad.

Gotta run...getting laundry done and then heading out to work!  Have a great day and don't forget you're not fully dressed until you're wearing a smile! :-)

Hello Pumpkin!

I created this card for 3 different challenges:
Crazy 4 Challenges - use orange, olive green, yellow & brown colors.
Our Creative Corner Challenge - wonderful windows.
ODBD Shining Light Challenge - lacing. I might get gonged on this one...not sure if lacing baker's twine through a 4-holed button is what they had in mind, but I'm going with that for now! :-) I loved coloring this new ODBD pumpkin image, then used their coordinating die to cut it out! The square of rustic cream CS behind the postage stamp Nestie frame is covered with overlapping tulle leaves that were cut using Tim Holtz' tattered leaves die. I used brown and light green tulle which gives a very subtle texture to the BG. The finished card is 5 1/4" square.


STAMPS: Pumpkin by ODBD, Sentiment Flags by Lil' Inker Designs, Happy Fall (sentiment) by Verve.
PAPER: Simply Autumn by Recollections, Rustic Cream by PTI.
INK: Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Pumpkin die (ODBD), Postage Stamps Nesties, Button, Chocolate baker's twine, Copics.

Not Forgotten

It's a multi-tasking Monday morning...created this card for 3 challenges...chatting in the Dirty Dozen thread with lots of excitement as the 2 new dirty girls await their big reveal...watching the Nascar rain-delayed race in the BG...hitting the laundry room...Soon my vacation week ends as I head back to work this afternoon. So, back to my card...It's for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge (I flipped it), for the Crazy 4 Challenges monochromatic theme and for ODBD Shining Light Challenge to add a tag (I used a tiny star tag).
Here's my enabler's list:
STAMPS: Not Forgotten by ODBD, Tiny Tags by PTI.
PAPER: Patterns Pack III by SU, White, Always Artichoke
INK: Always Artichoke
ACCESSORIES: Tiny tag die (PTI), Sentiment flag die, Copper brads, Distressing tool.

Nautical Birthday

Betty has some fabulous colors for the SCS Color Challenge this week: Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy & Crumb Cake with the dessert option to use something from the kitchen - a piece of burlap in this case. I'm also entering this into the Crazy 4 Challenges blog to use twine or string. I used both baker's twine and some jute twine. I love this new SU set from the summer mini - perfect for masculine cards. I'm needing quite a few masculine birthday cards, so this will fit the bill for them. Lots of distressing and sponging with tea dye distress ink...a crimped frame and a collage tag (cut with a Verve die), and a sailor's knot finish this off. The cherry cobbler base panel was dry embossed using a diamond EF.
STAMPS: The Open Sea (SU), Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inker Design)
PAPER: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Vintage Cream
INK: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Tea dye distress ink (Tim Holtz)
ACCESSORIES: Burlap, Sponge, Distressing tool, Tag die by Verve, Diamond EF, Baker's twine, jute twine, shell charm.

Bicycle Birthday

(Scroll on down to see my For Your Inspiration post for today.)
My son loves to bike for transportation and loves the big city life, so he can use this...along with the metro and his feet...as his way to get around. I needed a birthday card for him (he's my oldest and turns 28 on Saturday), so Korin's layout for the SCS Sketch Challenge was perfect to create this little summer scene. The clouds are die cut from felt. This is also for Crazy 4 Challenges to make a masculine card and for the Color Throwdown Challenge to use daffodil, tangerine and kiwi colors and for the CCEE challenge to include a kite on a card.
What did I use:
STAMPS: In the Park (Taylored Expressions), Big Wish (Verve) - sentiment
PAPER: A Walk in the Park by Echo Park, White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Cloud & grass border Die-Namics by MFT, Maya Road kraft mini tag, Baker's twine, Copics, felt.

Steppin' to the Outhouse

This card is for the following challenges:
Crazy 4 Challenges - humor
Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge
Paper Sundaes Challenge - pop it up
I'm hoping the challenge police won't gong me for stretching the mojo sketch into a step card! The first step includes 3 rows of die cut grass and a punched picket fence. The 2nd step is a fancy labels die behind a Mega Ovals Lg. Nesties die. Here's a more complete list of what I used:
STAMPS: F-1165 by PSX (outhouse), Sittin' Here by Impression Obsession, Tiny Tags (SU), One Person (flower) by Verve.
PAPER: Old Olive, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Black, Certainly Celery.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red.
ACCESSORIES: Die-namic (grass) by MFT, MS picket fence border punch, Fancy Labels die, Mega Ovals Lg. Nesties, Gingham ribbon, Wonky Rectangle Nesties, Tiny tag punch (SU), Copics.

Birthday Poppies

It's a beautiful, sunny Mother's Day and I'm so glad I'm off work and can enjoy the time at home. Following church, we opted to avoid the crowded restaurants and just have a cookout at home. We ate in our new sunroom and enjoyed the breeze through the screens without fighting any bugs! This card is a CASE of Jo (aka reddydyisco) who is the FS this week on SCS. She has a number of poppy creations, but I went with her colors in this card. I used the masking technique for the images and colored with Copics. The layout is for the Totally Gorjuss sketch challenge and it also works for the Play Date Cafe Challenge to be inspired by this picture using red, yellow gold & white. I'm also entering this card in the Crazy 4 Challenges to use lots of flowers.
STAMPS: Poppy Patch (Flourishes), Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inker Designs).
PAPER: Modern Homemaker (OA), Summer Days (Echo Park), Real Red, White.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
ACCESSORIES: Nesties, Adhesive pearls, Button, Baker's twine, Copics.

A Happy Hello

After a great worship service and lunch out with friends, I took a nap and now it's time to stamp! This card is a CASE of my good friend, Teresa Kline (aka va.sunshine on SCS). She's being featured on the blog challenge - Last But Not Least - of another good friend and SU demonstrator, Deb Horst, where Deb has picked one of Teresa's many awesome cards and is asking us to CASE it. We were to use a single sentiment, DP and pearls as Teresa used. I combined this with 2 other challenges: Crazy 4 Challenges (to use brown, green, & vanilla) and with the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS (Becky Spinks). I chose this card from Becky's wonderful gallery and CASED her layering of tags for the sentiment plus she used DP as the BG as well. I changed it up by adding a lace border with chocolate chip scalloped edge. I couldn't decide whether I should add the bow, but it won out in the end.
STAMPS: Happy Hello (Verve)
PAPER: Tim Coffey Blossomwood mat pad by K&Co, Chocolate Chip, Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado
INK: Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Lg. scallop border punch (EK Success), Lace, Chocolate seam binding (MS), Vintage brads (SU), Grommet Tags, Fancy Tags 2.

Daffodil Frame Card

This card is for 3 challenges:
Crazy 4 Challenges - sketch by Silke
ODBD Shining Light Challenge - frame it
Pattie's Creations Design Challenge - flowers and pearls
I created the frame by using Labels Sixteen & small ovals Nesties. The flowers were colored with Copics and cut out. Some adhesive pearls were added to embellish.

STAMPS: Daffodil Corner (ODBD), Psalm 121:1-2 Plain Jane (Verve)
PAPER: Bayberry Cottage by pinkpaislee, Vintage Cream, Black

C4C, TLC - Shabby Chic Get Well

For information about Sarah Bigelow's Blogaversary Give-away, click HERE.
Now on to my card which is for 2 challenges:
SCS Technique Lovers' Challenge - use newspaper on our card.
Crazy 4 Challenges - Silke has a color challenge using pink, kraft, turquoise & brown.
I punched scallop edges on 3 strips of newspaper and sponged the edges with chocolate chip ink. The leaves were die cut from DP by My Mind's Eye Home Pack (Photo Mat Pink) and the flower was punched using the circle scallop punch 5 times on paper from the same pack. I scrunched up each layer and fastened them together with a BasicGrey brad. Some felt ribbon and crumb cake seam binding (SU) were tied together and accented with 2 Jenni Bowlin stick pins. The sentiment flag is by Lil Inkers Designs. The leaves were run through an EF after they were die cut and then sponged with chocolate chip ink. The base DP is from K&Co's Flora & Fauna Ledger found at Mike's. My eyes are barely open, so will try to finish this post without screwing it up, then head for bed. Nite all!