Card Challenges

I have followed a number of card design challenges for years, but I've never entered. Three of my favorite ones came together for me this week and inspired me to create. I've had an idea of what I wanted to do all day. I came home, and within an hour, I had pulled it all together and made 8 cards. I hope you like my design.

All products are Stampin' Up. Colors are Basic Gray, Blue Bayou, Lost Lagoon, and Cherry Cobbler. 

Stamps are Watercolor Garden II and Warmest Regards.

The Challenges in which I am entering these are:ColourQ, Cas(e) This Sketch, and The Male Room.

Dozens of Cards

For Christmas, I made dozens of cards and gave them to my mom and MIL as gifts. I started with a Stampin' Up! Project Kit, altered some of the suggested designs, and added some more cards.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again

It's been ages since my last post. That wasn't intentional, but somewhere along the way, I lost my motivation to blog. I'm not promising to be any better in the future.

The past 6 months have been a bit rough, and I've spent a lot of time in western NY visiting my parents and helping them manage health-related issues. Since I have a lot of downtime while I'm with them, I worked on a few stitching projects. I made 18 keychains for friends of mine who have allowed me to vent about all of my frustration and have given me encouragement. I've gotten great reactions as I've handed them out.

Here's another project I'm working on. I started this for our 20th wedding anniversary in 2012, but didn't get very far. I stitched nearly all of the flower and the open box in January. My new goal is to have it finished and framed before our 25th in 2017!

 

 Additionally, I've made a lot of cards this year. I gave my mom and MIL tins of cards for Christmas. I'll show you some of them next post.

Beginning Sewing

Last month, we had a weekend that wasn't overscheduled. I pulled out my sewing machine to do some mending and to make some pillow covers. The girls were fascinated by what I was doing and wanted to participate. So I helped them make their own pillows. While we were searching for fabric, they were having trouble deciding, and I mentioned that we could make skirts, too. "You can sew SKIRTS?" Well, the challenge was on, and here are photos of the end products. We all had fun.

 

Looky looky!

Look what came in the mail yesterday. Karen at Pins and Needles did a fabulous job finishing my pumpkin sampler (and photographing it). Isn't it gorgeous? Thank you, Karen!

Versatile Tree

Here's my latest swap card. I wouldn't have guessed that Branch Out would be my "go to" stamp set. It is, however, quite versatile. I love this tree. Now I just need to make a summer one to go with the set. All products are Stampin' Up.

 

In Color Fall tree: Blackberry, Moss, Lagoon, Honey, Tangerine, and Rose Red

 

Spring Tree: Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, and Wild Wasabi

 

Winter Tree: Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, White

Seeing Stars

Here's my latest card for the swap. The theme was "holidays", and my card is suitable for either New Year's or Independence Day.

All products Stampin' Up. Seeing Stars stamps and punch. More Mustard, Night of Navy, and Real Red ink and paper. Gold embossing powder. The "celebrate" comes from a retired birthday word set.

I've been remiss in posting my squares from the summer Fair and Square patriotic swap. Here are the squares I received from Linda.

And here is the Quaker heart I sent Linda.

I hope your September is off to a good start.