A Fashionable {?} Post...

Hey there... trying to get back in to the swing of things and get some cards made.   Today I have two cards for two different, but very fashionable challenges:  Runway Inspired Challenge #2 and Moxie Fab World - Stripe-tastic.  With both of these challenges I was immediately struck by certain aspects of each photo. 

First up is my card for RIC #2.  When I first saw the inspiration photo my eyes were immediately drawn to that gorgeous green purse the model is carrying and I wanted to make that color stand out on my card.   Then I was struck by the pattern on her dress and lastly the odd purple eye make-up.  Even though I'm not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination I can appreciate a perfectly designed outfit.  However, I do not understand why some of these designers have to do things like crazy eye makeup!!  Anywhoo... I had an idea, but sadly I have been experiencing alot of bad headaches lately which generally leave me feeling completely untalented and so I struggled to get my card actually made.  Today I was feeling normal enough to get it finished.  I cut a piece of pale yellow cardstock and stamped it with an image from the WPlus9 Design set Background Basics 1 that reminded me of the pattern on the dress using grey ink.  The sentiment is from PTI's Gracious Vase and was stamped using purple ink.  I brought in the bright green by tying some grosgrain ribbon around the piece before applying purple and green rhinestones.  

I haven't done a Tuesday Trigger challenge in ages, but when I saw the current inspiration photo I just had to play along.  I took my inspiration from obviously the stripes and from the cute little Peter Pan collar on the dress.  I found cardstock that matched the colors in the dress fairly closely and cut thin stripes of each.  The bottom of the card was punched with a medium sized scalloped punch and then the stripes adhered in the same layout as the dress.  The sentiment on this card is also from Gracious Vases.  

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SU! Vintage Violet & Sage Shadow; CTMH yellow & pink; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Stamps:  PTI Gracious Vases & WPlus9Design Background Basics; Punch:  EKSuccess; Ribbon:   PTI; Rhinestones:  KaiserCraft & Hero Arts

Merry Christmas!!

Hey there!! Wow... can't believe I haven't blogged all week!  I did make a few things, but there were just way too many things going on that were far more important than blogging!   But another week has passed and it is time for another Less is More challenge.  This week Chrissie and Mandi are challenging us to use just one word on our cards.  I wasn't going to make any more Christmas cards, but decided that I wanted to use my new T!m Holtz Vintage Noel die one more time before putting it away.  I also combined the LIM challenge with the current Paper Players challenge to use red, cream and gold.  

The card base is my favorite red of all time Stampin Up!'s Cherry Cobbler.  Love, love, love the deep, rich color of this red.  I diecut the "noel" from Cherry Cobbler, as well and then stamped it with Hero Arts Magical Background using Delicata Golden Glitz ink.  Unfortunately, the patterned doesn't show up too well.  I edged the cream mat with the Golden Glitz ink and after adhereing the diecut I added three gold glitter brads.  Super simple.

So... I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  I hope you all have the most wonderful time with your family and friends and remember what the true meaning of Christmas is... a baby born in a manger!! 

Just a Note....

Hey there... quick post with my card for Less is More.  This week Chrissie and Mandi have asked us to make a card that uses music in some way on it.  I have been battling a really bad headache all day and finally this evening feel okay enough to try to make something.   So... this isn't my best effort, but well... it could have been alot worse!!!

I used a couple of different Hero Arts stamps and a sentiment stamp from Savvy Stamps.   The clef image is from the Hero Arts cling set "Musical Clef".  I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler ink and then trimmed it out.  The doily type image is the Hero Arts stamp "Sunburst Lace".  That was stamped in Memento London Fog.  The sentiment was stamped using Tuxedo Black ink.  The layout is from Clean & Simple.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI cream & Gina K. dark grey; Stamps:  Hero Arts & Savvy Stamps; Ink:  Memento London Fog & Tuxedo Black; SU! Cherry Cobbler

Sharing Some Peace & Grace...

Hey there!!  Today I have two cards.  One card is for the current ODBD Shining the Light challenge (a sketch) and the other is for One Layer Wednesday (to make a card that says "peace" to me).  Both cards use ODBD stamps. 

First up is my card for Shining the Light.   When I went to work on this card I had very different plans for it, but try as I might nothing was coming together.    It was just one of those days.  So when I decided to give up on the first idea the ODBD sketch was waiting there to save the day!  The background was created using the new PTI Quatrafoil die (what a coool die!!) and PTI's Rustic Cream cardstock.  After I adhered it to the front of the card I stamped the main focal image from "Serve the Lord" on Rustic Cream cardstock using kraft colored ink and then die cut the image using the coordinating die.  The verse (also from Serve the Lord) was stamped over the focal image using Rich Cocoa ink.  A piece of kraft cardstock was cut, the ribbon (from SU!) was adhered and then the piece matted with dark brown cardstock.  The focal image was then adhered and everything attached to the card base.  After looking at the card for awhile I decided that it needed a little bit extra and so I added the brown rhinestones.   I love the clean look of the card.

For the second card I had to use green and my favorite stamping layout because when I look at both I'm totally at peace!   The layout I used is one that I have used over and over again.   Stamping an image on the lefthand side of the card, overstamping a sentiment and then adding a few pearls or gems... sigh.... to me so very peaceful!  Add the color green and well... double sigh!!   I just wish I could have gotten a better photograph. 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI; Stamps:  ODBD; Ink:  SU! and Memento; Dies:  PTI, ODBD; Gems:  Hero Arts; Ribbon:  SU!

Mellow Yellow....

Hey there.... here with a card for two challenges:  CASE Study and a brand spankin' new challenge called Runway Inspired.

The inspiration photo from RIC features a dress from the Versace Spring 2012 line.  I used the PTI set Stitches and Swirls because the images reminded me of the pattern on the dress.  The inspiration card from the December CASE study muse, Amy, featured many, many layers.  I removed quite of few of the layers but kept the elements of the embossing and diecutting.  The image was stamped using Memento's Dandelion ink and the sentiment stamped using London Fog.  The image was diecut using a Spellbinders Small Label die and then matted with Soft Stone cardstock diecut using a Large Label die.  A few rhinestones were added, but in retrospect I think I would have left them off.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, lemon tart & soft stone; Stamps:  PTI Stitches & Swirls, Signature Series Dress Form; Inks:  Memento; Rhinestones:  SU!; Swiss Dot embossing folder; Spellbinders dies

Some Flourishes Christmas....

Hey there!!  Here with two cards for two Flourishes challenges.   Timeless Tuesday.... a fun sketch provided by the super talented Silke!!    And the Flourishes Christmas Spirit challenge.  Both cards are a bit on the "plainy janey" side.   The Christmas Spirit challenge this month is to use Santa in some form on your project.   For my super simple card I used the santa ornament from the Holiday Sparkle set.   I stamped the image on some Eclipse tape and then trimmed him out to create a mask.  I cut a piece of Rustic Cream cardstock to the size I wanted and stamped the image in Cherry Cobbler ink on it and then covered it with the mask.  I then stamped the pine bough over the mask using Old Olive ink.   I distressed the edges of the stamped piece and matted it with Old Olive cardstock that had the edges distressed as well.  Some Diamond Stickles were added along with a bow tied from twine. 

The second card is for the Timeless Tuesday challenge.  I stamped the rose image from the set Petals and Peace on white cardstock with Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it with Copics (sorry... forgot to write down what colors I used).  I then diecut the image using the matching Flourishes/Spellbinder die Classic Keyhole.  The patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Jovial 6x6 pad.  I combined it with some red burlap ribbon for a... well... interesting look!   I think I will add a sentiment before sending it out as the card looks a bit plain without one.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Rustic Cream; SU! Cherry Cobbler & Old Olive; Stamps:  Flourishes; Ink:  Memento & Stampin Up!; Red Burlap Ribbon; Twine; Flourishes Classic Keyhole die; Diamond Stickles

Peace....

Hey there!! Another Saturday has arrived and with it a new challenge over at Less is More.  This week the challenge is to create a one layer card using snowflakes.   At first I thought I would use my neglected SU! set Serene Snowflakes, but then thought I should really dust off my very, very neglected PTI set Snowflake Serenade and use that instead.    

I had intended to use white cardstock, but then saw a piece of Rustic Cream cardstock that had already been cut and decided to go with that.  I used SU!'s Night of Navy and Marina Mist to stamp the sentiment and snowflakes.   Snowflake Serenada doesn't have a small snowflake so I used one from the Hero Arts set Decorate Your Holiday.    I got out my trusty Quickie Glue pen to apply the right of amount of glue to the sentiment and snowflakes and then applied the glitter.   Some score lines at the bottom finished off the card.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Rustic Cream; Stamps:  PTI & Hero Arts;  Ink:  Stampin Up!; Glitter:  Art Glitter - Ultra Fine Blue Rain

Noel...

Hey there!! I'm back with another Christmas card using the somewhat non-traditional Christmas colors of pink and gold.   This time my card is for the Shabby Tea Room and the layout comes from the current Cardabilities sketch.    The Shabby Tea Room challenge is to base our project off another gorgeous inspiration photo and use pink, gold, neutrals, flowers and snowflakes.   Combining all those things together really takes me outside my comfort zone!!   But the fabby sketch from Cardabilities gave me the confidence to give it a go!

I had recently purchased a T!m Holtz Alterations die called Vintage Noel and had been wanting to use it on a card.  So, I got it out and went to work.  I die cut the "Noel" image from white cardstock and then applied some Old Paper Distress ink to tone it down a bit.   With my Quickie Glue Pen I outlined a portion of the image and poured on the gold glitter.  I then added a bit of glitter to some tiny pink roses.  The snowflake (Anna Snowflake from Poppy Stamps) was stamped on the pink cardstock using Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  A single snowflake was diecut using the matching Anna Snowflake die, stamped with the Golden Glitz ink and then some additional glitter added to the center.  The I die cut the Top Note from some Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden paper and distressed the edges just a bit.  Then I layered everything up, adding the punched border and some pink grosgrain ribbon.  I thought about adding some pearl flourishes but decided against it as I do love the card the way it is.... a bit shabby and a bit CAS.

Supplies:  Cardstock:   PTI white; SU! Pink Pirouette; PP:  Pink Paislee; Ink:  Ranger & Tsukeniko; Dies:  T!m Holtz Vintage Noel & SU! Top Note; Flowers:  Flying Unicorn; Glitter:  Melissa Frances; Ribbon:  PTI; Stamps:  Poppy Stamps

Joy to All....

Hey there!!  Hope your week is going well.  It is cold, cold, cold here in the Pacific Northwest, but thankfully there is no rain (or snow for that matter)!    Have a card today for two challenges, CR84FN and the Paper Players that uses the current Sketchbook Saturday sketch.  I am really lovin' Chupa's sketches!  Not only is she a fantastic cardmaker... she is a mighty talented sketch designer, too!  But boo hoo!  This is the last CR84FN challenge for the year!   CR84FN is one of my favorite challenges because Mona always picks the most beautiful color trios.   So... I shall be waiting impatiently for the challenge to start again in the new year!

Anywhoo... the CR84FN colors this week are aqua, pink and coral, not traditional Christmas colors and so I thought I would combine that challenge with the Paper Players since their challenge is to create a card that either uses non-traditional colors for a Christmas/holiday card or one that uses non-traditional stamps for a Christmas/holiday card.  I think pink, aqua and coral are pretty non-traditional colors.   The patterned paper is from the lovely Cozy Xmas collection by The Scrap Cake.  The ornaments are from the SU! set Tree Trimmings and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.  The inks are all from SU! (Cameo Coral, Pool Party & Pretty in Pink).  I toned things down a bit with my favorite distress ink, Old Paper.  Another pretty simple card, but I really like it.  

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! pretty in pink & pool party; Stamps:  hero arts & stampin up!; Ink:  Stampin Up!; Twine:  May Arts; Punch Fiskars Upper Crust; PP:  The Scrap Cake Cozy Xmas

Blessed...

Hey there... Getting back in the swing of things with my cardmaking.  Have a card for the current Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge to use ribbon, a flower and a tag and for the current CASE Study challenge to CASE a card by December's muse, Amy Sheffer.   My card is a super simple version of her gorgeous card.

I used the Flourishes set Paper Whites for my card, as well as some gorgeous Christmas papers from a company called Scrap Cake.  The company is based in Poland, but I was able to find them here in the US through a webstore called The Flying Unicorn.  Man... are these papers gorgeous!  I can't wait to make another card using them! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & kraft; Stamps:  Flourishes; Ink: SU! Riding Hood Red & Pool Party; Ribbon:  PTI Pure Poppy; Rose:  Prima; Dies:   Spellbinders plain circle dies; Sizzix tag die

Its a Green Thing...

Hey there!! Happy Saturday... got several cards today and all of them feature the color green.... which happens to be my favorite color!!   Since it's Saturday that means there is a new challenge over at Less is More and the challenge this week is to use the color green.   After checking out the LIM challenge I decided to see if Susan (LateBlossom) had posted a new One Layer Wednesday challenge and she had!!   Her challenge this week is to use one sentiment stamp on a non-traditional sized card and to make more than one card using that stamp with a different ink.  So... I thought I would combine the two challenges and came up with these two cards:

They both use the SU! color Wild Wasabi, but in different forms.   Obviously on the white one I used the Wild Wasabi ink and the second one uses Wild Wasabi cardstock and Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts Christmas set, Joy to All. To give them a bit of interest I added some score lines.  But once I finished making them I decided that I wanted to make a different card for Less is More and came up with this one:

Still used green, but this time I added in  Memento's New Sprout.  The stamps are from PTI (Harvest Berries and Hero Arts).  And since today is my birthday I decided to make this card a birthday card.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Wild Wasabi; Ink:  Wild Wasabi; Delicate Golden Glitz & New Sprout; Stamps:  PTI, Hero Arts; Gems:  Hero Arts

Take a Moment...

Hey there!  Boy it seems like ages since I last posted... just had a few things going on that were far more important than making and posting cards.   But now things have calmed down a bit (although I still have to decorate our tree and do a few other things) and so I found the time to make a card using this week's colors from ColourQ:  night of navy, marina mist, bashful blue, sahara sand and white. 

When I started thinking about what I wanted to do I knew for sure that I just wanted to do some simple stamping.  So I gathered up my inks and the stamp set I wanted to use (PTI's Harvest Berries) and did a couple of trial runs of my card to make sure that I got the right combination of colors.  I don't have sahara sand so I subbed in crumb cake.   The layout is one I probably use more often than most... image on one side in a light colour with the sentiment overstamped in a darker color.   Then the finishing touch of a bit of bling.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & SU! Night of Navy; Ink:  SU! Crumb Cake & Marina Mist; Memento Summer Sky; Bling:  Hero Arts; Stamps:  PTI Harvest Berries

Christmas Blessings....

Hey there!! Here with a card for this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge.  My IRL friend, Cindy, is the hostess with the mostess over at the Tea Room and she has provided us with a gorgeous inspiration photo and the challenge to use white or cream, silver and glitter.   So for me that means doing two things I don't do a lot of:  making something covered in glitter and heat embossing.   I don't do either with any frequency because of my limited work space and the fact that it also happens to be my kitchen counter! 

Anywhoo... for my card I created a double snowflake with some snowflake chipboard pieces I had kicking around.  I covered the snowflake with some Diamond Glaze and then poured on the glitter (Art Glitter Wisteria for one (a light, light blue) and Art Glitter Ultra Fine Blue Rain).  A blinged up button from BasicGrey (say that 3x fast!) was adhered to the center of one snowflake using more Diamond Glaze and then the two snowflakes were adhered together using foam dimensionals.  The border from the WMS set Victorian Frippery was embossed in silver on the bottom of these neat postcard type piece from Stampin Up! and then I trimmed around to create the scalloped edge.  I inked the edges of another cardstock piece with a VersaMark pen, applied silver embossing powder and heat set.   The sentiment from Hero Arts was embossed in silver on the bottom of the card base.  Everything was layered up as you see it, some cream seam binding added and then the whole thing adhered to the card base.   The layout for the card once, again, is courtesy of another fabulous sketch from Sketchbook Saturday.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Rustic Cream; Cardstock embellishments:  Stampin Up!; Stamps:  WMS & Hero Arts; Ink:  VersaMark; Embossing Powder:  Ranger Ultra Fine Silver; Glitter:  Art Glitter; Button:  BasicGrey; Chipboard snowflakes

So Thoughtful...

Hey there... back with another card for the current CASE Study challenge and ColourQ. 

I just love this week's ColourQ combo of Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Delightful Daffodil, Early Espresso and white.  Cherry Cobbler is my absolute favorite red.  I love how deep and rich it is, especially against white.   When I saw November CASE Study muse, Kryssi's card I just had to play along.  I love the super clean and stunning, as my friend Sue would say, design of the card.   I thought I had a large solid flower stamp that I could use, but unfortunately, I didn't.   So instead I got a little dotty with my card, combining PTI's Dot Spot with Polka Dot Basics II.  I stamped the largest circle from Dot Spot in Pumpkin Pie and then used So Saffron to stamp the border using the smallest polka dot border in the set.  The sentiment from Signature Greetins was stamped using Early Espresso.  I decided to add the yellow button to the center for just a bit more interest. 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Cherry Cobbler; Ink:  SU! Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron & Early Espresso; Stamps:  PTI; Button:  My Mind's Eye

twinkle....

Hey there!! Another Saturday is here and a new Less is More challenge.  This week Chrissie and Mandi are challenging us to use bling on our projects.  And when I saw the challenge I had the perfect stamp in mind, too!  I'm also putting this card in to the current CR84FN challenge to use green, tan and brown.   The layout comes from a Clean & Simple sketch from several weeks ago.    I had been struggling to find an idea for the CR84FN challenge, but this week's LIM challenge turned out to be the perfect match for me!! 

The stamps I used for my card are from Penny Black.   A wood-mounted stamp called Reverie and the clear set, Let It Snow.  I stamped the image using Memento Rich Cocoa on Rustic Cream cardstock and then diecut it using a Spellbinders small circle die.  The patterned paper is from Stampin Up! (the Frostwood Lodge pack) and was also diecuting using a Spellbinders circle die.  Some additional Rustic Cream was diecut using a Spellbinders Grommet Tag die and then I stamped the sentiment "twinkle" on it using Nick Bantock's Sapmoss Green ink and then I spiffed up the tag with the ribbon, twine and buttons.  The bling (green, brown and clear) was applied to the tree randomly.   I absolutely love how the card turned out!!   I will also be linking this up with the Buttons Galore & More linky party.  I realize it is a bit non-traditional for a Christmas card, but I will, in fact, be using it as such.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft & rustic cream; Stampin Up! Garden Green; DP:  Stampin Up!; Stamps:  Penny Black; Ribbon:  PTI dark choc.; Buttons:  DeNami Design; Twine; Rhinestones:  KaiserCraft & Hero Arts; Spellbinders Dies; Inks:  Memento Rich Cocoa & Nick Bantock Sapmoss Green

Thank You...

Hey there... happy Friday!  Hope everyone in the US had a great Thanksgiving day!  I know my family did!!  Now its time to start getting ready for Christmas...YAY!!  I love Christmas!  But today I have probably one final fall-type card.   This one is for the current Shabby Tea Room challenge to use the colors provided in a gorgeous inspiration photo.    The layout for the card comes from Sketchbook Saturday.  If you haven't checked out Chupa's sketches... you really should!  She always has super fun sketches!

The only stamping on the card is the sentiment which is from a Hero Arts/Basic Grey set (Luscious Frame).  Lots of diecutting and punching, though.   I tried to pull alot of colors from the inspiration photo and combine them in a pleasing manner. (And hopefully I succeeded!) The patterned papers are from PTI (Autumn Abundance) and DCWV (Christmas stack).   The flower was made using the Spellbinders Carnation Creations dies and I'm going to be honest... I don't like this set of dies as well as I like the Spellbinders Rose Creations dies.  But I think the flower turned out okay.  I used the red burlap strip to help break things up a bit.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft; PP:  PTI & DCWV; Ink:  Memento Tangelo; Dies:  Spellbinders circle die, Carnation Creations dies; Sizzix Leaf die; Red Burlap; EK Success punch; Stamps:  Hero Arts

Silent Night....

Hey there!!  Happy Wednesday!  Have another Christmas card using non-traditional colors.   This card is for this week's ODBD Shining the Light challenge to have bells or baubles hanging from your card and the City Crafter's challenge to make pink the focus of a Christmas card.

For my card I used the ODBD Poinsettia background stamp and a sentiment from the ODBD Holly Tag set.   The papers are from the SU! paper pack called Beau Chateau.   The ink is SU! Pink Pirouette and Marina Mist.  I used some of that absolutely yummy May Arts crinkle ribbon for the bow.  It took me a while to figure out how I was going to attach the bells, but finally got it right this morning.  As I was finishing up the card it struck me as funny that I was putting bells on a card with a sentiment saying "Silent Night, Holy Night"!   I did some distressing (with ink and a distressing tool) to soften things up a bit.  The layout is from Deconstructed Sketch (DS28).

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! DP - Beau Chateau; Ink:  SU! Pink Pirouette & Marina Mist; Ranger Old Paper Distress Ink; Bells:  Joann's; Ribbon:  May Arts Pink crinkle ribbon; Twine:  The Twinery; Button:  PTI; Punch:  EKSuccess

You're So Sweet....

Hey there!!   Another week has rolled around and this week it is Thanksgiving here in the US.   And this week also brings my oldest child's birthday.   He is going to be 13 on Wednesday the 23rd!!  It just blows my mind that I have a teenager!  It just seems like yesterday he was starting kindergarten...

Anywhoo... my card is for a couple of challenges:  Paper Players to make a CAS card using white, dark blue and silver and Waltzingmouse (a sketch).    I must admit that when I saw the Paper Players challenge to use silver I was on the fence a bit as to whether I would play along or not.  I don't generally use metallics in my paper crafting because I just don't like how my projects turn out when I have used them.  But because I like to participate in the Paper Players challenges as often as I can I decided to give it a go.  I used the WMS set Dainty Doilies (large), stamping the largest doily using Night of Navy ink and then diecutting it with the largest die in the Spellbinders Large Scallope Circle dies set.  One of the small doilies was stamped in the center using VersaMark ink, silver embossing powder applied and heat set.   The sentiment from Dainty Doilies was also embossed using silver embossing powder.  It was then die cut using a Spellbinders Grommet Tag die.   Some Night of Navy grograin ribbon, white & blue bakers twine and silver glitter brads were used to create my favorite little ribbon treatment.   

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Night of Navy; Ink:  SU! Night of Navy & VersaMark; Stamps:  Waltzingmouse; Ribbon:  SU! Night of Navy grosgrain; Bakers Twine - The Twinery; Glitter Brads:  SU!; Embossing Powder - Ranger Ultra Fine Silver

Time for Tea...

Hey there.... its Saturday and time for a new challenge over at Less is More!  This week the challenge is to use a silhouette image on our clean and simple project.   I'm not big on silhouettes, but I do own a few from Hero Arts and used one called Teatime Silhouette for today's card.   Because the stamp has a frame around the image and I wanted to die cut it with a Spellbinders plain circle die I was careful to ink only the interior image and then wipe off any ink that might have gotten onto the frame portion.  Lucky me, it only took one try to get the image stamped!!   I used Tuxedo Black ink and where the image was kinda splodgy I filled it in with Tuxedo Black marker.   

I die cut some purple cardstock using a Spellbinders scalloped circle time and some black cardstock using a Spellbinders Fancy Tags 3 die.  Everything was layered up using foam dimensionals.  The sentiment is from the Taylored Expressions set Creativi-Tea and was stamped using Memento Grape Jelly ink.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Gina K. black, SU! Purple; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black & Grape Jelly; Stamps:  Hero Arts & Taylored Expressions; Dies:  Spellbinders

Best Wishes....

Hey there!!  Happy Friday to everyone.   Got a card for a couple of challenges:  Cardabilities and Flutterby Wednesday.   I have heard about Flutterby Wednesday challenges before, but had never checked out their challenge until just the other day and since this week is "anything goes" I decided to give them a try.   The layout of the card is courtesy of Cardabilities.... another fantastic sketch!!!  A shout out to Cardabilities is in order... they picked the card I entered in the last sketch challenge as one of their top 5!!!   Thanks so much ladies!!!

I did make one small change to the sketch... I only used three butterflies instead of four.  This mainly came about because the middle butterfly is quite large.  The papers and the butterflies are from the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden collection.  I stamped a large flourish image from Hero Arts in Spun Suger distress ink on the patterned paper and then the sentiment (also Hero Arts) in VersaFine Vintage Sepia.    The crocheted lace is from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas. 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft; PP:  Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden; Embellishments:  Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden Clear Pops; Ink:  VersaFine Vintage Sepia & Ranger Spun Sugar distress ink; Lace:  My Mind's Eye; Punch:  SU! Scallope Punch; Stamps:  Hero Arts

Merry Everything!

Hey there!!  Winter weather has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest.... cold, cold rain (and maybe even snow... yikes!) plus high winds.  Definitely a good reason to stay inside and make cards!!  (Not that I need a good reason to make a card, hee hee!)

Anywhoo... have a card today for the current CR84FN color challenge to use pink, black and a neutral.  The layout is courtesy of Mojo Monday.  It took me awhile last night to hit on the right combo of cardstock and papers.  I started out with some patterned paper from Pink Paislee, but it didn't have enough pink and looked completely wrong with everything else.  So I got out my trusty 6x6 pad of Blush papers from My Mind's Eye and found just the right pink gingham paper.   The next problem was trying to work the black into my card.  At first I tried to use a solid piece of black cardstock in the sketch, but it looked way too harsh and out of place.  After trying a few other ideas I decided to stamp some cream cardstock with the Penny Black Delicate Pattern background stamp, add some Old Paper Distress Ink and finally acheived the right look.   The poinsettia image is the Penny Black stamp Christmas Star... my absolute favorite Penny Black stamp.   The image was stamped using Victorian Velvet distress ink and then colored with Spun Sugar distress ink.  The sentiment (also from Penny Black) was stamped on cream cardstock, die cut using a Spellbinders grommet tag die and then Old Paper distress ink applied. 

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI cream; PP:  My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2 Blush; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Stamps:  Penny Black:  Christmas Star, Let It Snow & Delicate Pattern background stamp; Spellbinders Grommet Tag die; My Mind's Eye - Blush brads; Ribbon:  May Arts pink pleated ribbon; Pearls:  Zva Creative

Thank you...

Hey there!!  Hope your week is going well... can't believe the week is already half over!  Yikes... time sure flies!!   Have a card for a couple of challenges.   One is a "new to me" sketch challenge called Tuesday Morning Sketches.   The other challenge is one of my favorites:  Flourishes Timeless Tuesday.   Sadly I haven't done a Timeless Tuesday challenge in a few weeks.  I tried to make a card for last week's challenge to use the "double embossing" technique, but things didn't turn out so well for me and I gave up.    So, I was determined to make something for this week's challenge. 

The time is from the Flourishes set Sweet Violets and the sentiment from the Hero Arts set Find Joy.  I had to tweek the sketch just a bit to make it work, but the basic layout is still there.  The Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge comes with a "twist" this week in that they want you to make a card that "gives thanks".  With Thanksgiving just around the corner I could pulled out another fall/thanksgiving type image, but I wanted to take a break from that and for that reason I chose to use the Sweet Violets set.  I colored the image with the following Copic markers:  V000, V04, V06, V09, Y21, YG93, YG95 & YG97.  All papers and cardstock are PTI.  The image was diecut with a Spellbinders large plain rectangle die.   The challenge at Timeless Tuesday is to add a flag and so I created the little pennant type flag for the sentiment.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & plum pudding; PP:  PTI Bitty Star Basics Plum Pudding & Ripe Avocado; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Stamps:  Flourishes Sweet Violets & Hero Arts Find Joy; Copic Markers; EK Success punch; PTI buttons

Many Thanks...

Hey there!!  It's Saturday and time for another Less is More challenge.   This week our LIM enteries need to be one layer and have leaves on them.  Here in the US Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner and so I made a "thank you" card which fits right in there with the current Lawnscaping challenge.  Sadly, I don't have any Lawn Fawn stamps, but in order to play along with the Lawnscaping challenge you don't necessarily need to have Lawn Fawn stamps. 

For my card I used the Waltzingmouse Frame It set.  I stamped the square frame in brown ink on kraft cardstock (and got it right in the center of the card on the first try.... I LOVE IT when that happens!!).  There is a leaf image in the set and I stamped that three times on kraft cardstock using orange and dark red inks (I used the rock n roll method).  The leaves were trimmed out, two adhered using glue dots and the middle one using a foam dimensional.  A bit of twine was tied in a bow and adhered.  Simple, simple, simple....

Oh and thanks to Chrissie and Mandi for picking my Wishing You card to be "ShowCASed"!!  

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft; Stamps:  WMS Frame It; Inks:  SU! Close to Cocoa, Cherry Cobbler & Pumpkin Pie