Happy Spring!

I made this card in January, but didn't get to post it.  Since today is officially spring I thought it was appropriate.  While helping my mother-in-law decorate her new snowbird home I picked up some adorable K&Company butterfly stickers to use for cards while in the south - apparently people don't hand write much more than Thank You notes any more because that was the only type of stationery around!  I found the stickers (without glitter!) at the local Michaels.

 I paired one of the larger butterflies with design paper from the DCWV wintercombo matstack. 

Look closely and you'll notice that the flowers in the design paper are actually snowflakes.  I paired it up with some handmade fiber paper (no I didn't hand make it), and a scrap of gray cardstock.  This was so quick and easy!  Hopefully I can find design papers to match all the butterflies and whip up a few cards for my stash.  (Note:  these butterfly stickers are a little bulky, so mailing them may cost extra postage.  Since I didn't have a post office close by, I stuck two stamps on the envelopes just to be on the safe side.)

Thanks for Visiting!
~Kathy

Craft Party - Follow Up

It took a week to get the photos taken, but here's what happened last weekend when I got to meet a group of talented ladies (and absorb lots and lots of knowledge to boot!).  Check out Carol's blog here and here for some great pictures and lots of details! 

During my time there I managed to finish three CAS cards as well (it helped that my one colored image was already half done before the day began!). 

My first card was inspired by Sandy's card and is perfect for those of us who have more to say than will fit in a standard A2 sized card, but not enough for a full 5x7 one!  LOL  Plus it's great for that 12x12 cardstock that I've got with minimal scraps left behind!

Next is my Sarah Kay image with some design paper from Carol's scrap stash gathered at a smaller get-together way back in the fall of last year!  I had a blast pawing through her box, and found the fabulous bright yellow flower paper.

Finally - I must have been channeling a little Tim Holtz as I used my Distress Ink pad and TPC Studio stamps to create this collage.  I also tried out some rub-ons for the first time.  They took a little getting use to, but I was thrilled that I didn't destroy my card in the process of experimenting!  I think I'm also going to love all the papers in the DCWV Old World Stack.

Thanks for the great afternoon ladies!
~Kathy

Dude Time Safari Sketch - Triple Challenge cards

Working on challenges seems to be sparking my creativity.  With some crafting time this weekend I picked three challenges and attempted to pull them all together into one card.  Not only did I meet my goal, but I actually created two different cards for the same set of challenges.

I LOVE the colors in the Dude Time Doodles inspiration challenge, and I seem to be different than most of the card makers whose blogs I visit, since masculine cards don't overwhelm me.  (maybe it's because I'm not a frilly, flower person myself...)

The Truly Scrumptious Challenge 45 sketch looked interesting, and I tend to struggle with multiple layers so I figured this would stretch my thinking a bit.

And last, but not least, going on a safari is on my dream list; so how could I pass up the Pixie Dust Studio challenge of a safari theme?  I have a few stamps that fit the bill (of course) - is it possible that someone dreaming of an African safari would not have such stamps??

I wanted to try another in the vertical format, so I used the scraps from the first card on a second one:

My camera seems to be acting up - couldn't get it to stop cutting the edge off of the second card... 
Thanks for visiting~
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Recollections Cardstock;  DCWV neutrals mat stack;  Bazzill basics earthtone mat stack
Stamps & Ink:  Archival Jet Black Ink;  Magnolia Savanna;  Inque Boutique safari (elephant);  Stampendous everything happy sentiments
Other:  ek Success wavy border punch;  circle punch

Love Notes and Bling

Operation Write Home had a Valentine Blog Hop over the weekend.  They were celebrating Veterans Day and getting a jump start on the Valentines Day cards needed in before their January 7th deadline. 

I was inspired to create this card - trying to keep the reds, pinks and hearts to a minimum since Dixie (our east coast shipper) gets overwhelmed by such things.  {grin}

What do you think of my purple and green Valentines day card?  I just love this Mo Manning digital image of Bella playing the saxophone!  And she's always adding more great images to her collection.  To see her latest additions check out her blog!  The image was colored using my Tombow markers and water brush.

I have a couple of firsts in this card to boot:  1) first time using my new EK success corner rounder punch and 2) first time using BLING!  I added a tiny red heart to Bronte's collar and a trio of circles under the sentiment - I may need to pick up a pair of tweezers for my tool kit as these were hard to work with using only my fingers!

I created the little heart notes coming out of the saxophone using two small punches - music notes and hearts.  I glued the hearts onto the round part of the notes and voila - Love Notes!  I looked through all of my sentiments, and apparently when I send cards I'm not too sentimental - very few love messages.  So I pulled out some individual letter stamps (which conveniently came with a heart) and put together the sentiment.  I'm not great at lining everything up, so I used my wavy edge punch and now my crooked words a little less obvious.  {smile}

I've also entered the card into the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #138 where Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Recollections cardstock;  DCWV Latte Matstack
Stamps & Ink:  Mo's Digital Pencil So Jazzed digital image;  Archival Jet Blank Ink;  alpha-numeric individual rubber stamps for the sentiment
Other:  Tombow markers;  ek Success corner rounder punch;  ek Success border punch;  heart and music note punches;  Hero Arts pale green gems;  Me & My Big Ideas heart Rhinestone

Fun with a cardboard box.

Had more time today to play, so I skimmed through the Feline Playful list of challenges for the week and found an interesting sketch at the Dude Time Doodles challenge blog.  My take on the sketch, which required the card be masculine:

I had this image of Eli from Mo's Digital Pencil already colored leaving me lots of time to pull out parts and play with the elements.  Here's the actual sketch:



I flipped it and found a piece of the Safari Chic Die Cuts with a View that reminded me of tire tracks.  A few scraps of punched cardstock and some alpha-numeric stamps for the top prize ribbon and voila - a great card to send in to Operation Write Home!  (Do kids play with cardboard boxes any more?)

And while I'm on OWH - they made it to the finals for the JoAnn's Craft for a Cause challenge.  Stop on over and vote!

Thanks for visiting!

~Kathy

Supplies:

Paper:  DCWV Safari Chic Premium Mat Stack;   Recollections cardstock

Ink & Stamps:  Mo's Digital Pencil Eli digital image;  Archival Jet Black Ink;  Alpha-Numeric individual rubber stamps

Other:  ek Success punch;  foam tape, Tombow markers;  Zig Memory System pens

Blowing Snowflakes

After a busy day of running errands, I sat down to play with paper and markers this evening.

This card actually came together in about 10 minutes with the help of a pre-made card base and the perfect piece of patterned paper.  One of the first set of stamps that I picked up included this snowman, I did trim away a small snow-butterfly which was replaced by the swirling snowflakes in the designer paper. 

The biggest decision I had was the colors to make the coat, hat and scarf.  In the end I went monochromatic (well except for that carrot nose) coloring him with my Tombows and making it feel like winter.  I popped up the snowman on foam tape for a little depth.  The card was missing a little something, new Gelly Roll white gel pen to the rescue for some hand stitching around the border.

Since the card base is larger than the A2 standard for Operation Write Home I'll be using this one for a note to a service member stationed overseas during the November and December holiday seasons.

Thanks for visiting...
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  DCWV The Winter Combo matstack, watercolor paper, Strathmore photo mount card base
Stamps & Ink:  Archival Jet Black Ink, Darcies Unmounted Rubber Stamps JCS0064 set
Other:  Gelly Roll medium white gel pen;  foam tape

Following a recipe...

I had a little crafting time over the weekend and pulled together the pieces for the PaperCraft Star's Challenge #20.  I've tried to keep my stash of supplies small.  This forced me to get a creative.

The recipe:

     Simon Says Make a Card

     Base 4.5 x 5.5

     Double Mat #1: cut at 3 3/8 x 4 5/8 with another color cut at 3 1/4 x 4 1/4

     Double Mat #2: cut at 2 3/4 x 4 with another color cut at 2 3/4 x 2 1/2

     Add Ribbon

     Add Button(s)

     Add Punch or Die Cut

     (Add anything else you would like to add)

I dug out some dark blue cardstock scraps and a DCWV winter design paper from a mat stack pack to match the reverse side of a piece of ribbon.  I'm hoping that the chipboard button that I covered with red paper counts as a button (I haven't added buttons to my collection yet), and the little snowflakes are punches.  The Studio 112 cardinal stamp was a Joann's dollar special, and I colored it with my Tombows.

I had fun working with the different elements, but I think I may have mis-measured one of the mats.  Either way I had fun putting this together.

Supplies:
Paper:  DCWV The Winter Combo matstack, Paperbilities card stock scraps
Ink & Stamps:  Archival Jet Black Ink, Studio 112 cardinal stamp
Other:  ribbon scrap, chipboard button, snowflake punch, Tombow markers

Old World Notes

When my parents headed home from their visit a couple of weeks ago the Paper Crafts July / August 2010 magazine remained on my dining room table.  I skimmed through the pages, and decided to tackle the sketch on page 22.

Over the course of several rainy days I pulled together the parts to come up with this design:

I've always loved old maps, and I've had this Inkadinkado letter stamp waiting for some ink.  They just seemed to fit the magazine's sketch (shown below).

Thanks for stopping by  ~ Kathy

Supplies:

Paper:  Paperbilities card stock;  Die Cuts with a View Safari Chic Matstack

Ink & Stamps:  Archival Jet Black Ink; Hero Arts sentiment; Inkadinkado letter stamp

Friends and Flowers

Getting out of the office a little early today provided me the opportunity to visit the nearby JoAnn's for the first time.  Operation Write Home posted information on JoAnn's Craft for a Cause challenge and I figured that was a good excuse to go shopping.  I was thrilled to find they were having a sale on punches and embellishments! 

Wandering through the isles, I found a Die Cuts with a View piece of patterned paper that I liked so I went from there picking out a matching single solid green sheet, and a package of Studio 112 flowers.  After that I rounded out my stock of basic supplies with two packages of cardstock, two ek success punches that coordinate, white gel pens and adhesives. 

Once home the card came together quickly, not sure why my muse was so active today.  The design paper does nearly all the work, with the green punched piece and flower each popped up to add some dimension.  Simple, but I like how it turned out.

~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Die Cuts with a View single sheet design and solid green papers, The Paper Company white cardstock, Die Cuts with a View Mat Stack purple paper
Embellishments:  Studio112 layered flower.
Other:  ek success punch,  foam tape