Spin Spin Spin

Princess A has her first ever dance competition this evening; I cannot express how proud I am of her! When I first saw this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches (#225), I thought it would be perfect with a ballerina mouse, but my stamp was too small.

Enter the bear. Just the right size, and the pinwheel adds a fun, festive touch.

It took a long time to decide on a sentiment (I do not have that many), but thought the double-double meaning (pinwheels spin, dancers spin) was cute. 

I get a little corny sometimes. 

Card Details:

Image: The Cat's Pajamas

Sentiment: The Cat's Pajamas

Cardstock: Hammermill, SU

Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black
Coloring: Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Tools: N/A

Embellies: Unknown brad

Happy 50th Birthday, Joe!

Another big event at our chorus retreat, was a celebration of the 50th birthday of our coach, Joe Connelly. I needed to make a card that was roomy enough for everyone to sign, and was special enough to double as a "gift"

Here is what I created:

I used images of items from his childhood (well, except for the big-wheeled bicycle) and followed a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches (#177)

 The inside is an exploding box with a cupcake in the center. It is supposed to be a cupcake anyway, but I had attached the base to the base of the card before I realized I had forgotten to run it through my crimper; it does not have that cupcake wrapper feel, but I was not about to take it apart to fix. 

The images from the outside of the card were stamped inside with Versamark, so it would not be so plain, but would not impede signatures. 

The frosting is embossed and the candle is a drinking straw. The flame was made by tying different lengths of orange ribbon and securing them with a brad (so they would not shift) then stuffing all of that into the straw. 

Other than the crimping mistake, I am quite pleased with how this came out. 








Card Details:

Image: SU

Sentiment: SU

Cardstock: Bazzill, SU, unknown dp

Ink: Memento, Versamark
Coloring: N/A

Tools: Nestabilities, embossing folder, unknown brad

Embellies: unknown ribbon, drinking straw

Singing in the Rain

It poured yesterday, it rained more today, and tomorrow it is going to snow. So much for that "in like a lion, out like a lamb" thing.

Linda's May/June theme in the 'Hood is posted, so I figured I may as well make it. I don't know why I did not work on the swaps that are due sooner, especially as I know exactly what I am going to do with them, but that is the way it works sometimes. 

Ok, so back to Linda...
She wanted us to "make a card that represents some activity you love to do outdoors", I assume in the summer. 

As you may or may not know, I am allergic to the sun. I spend all summer in long sleeves and capri pants; No shorts and tee shirts for me... except when it rains. I love those overcast days!

I am sure Riley is singing as he stomps in those puddles; I know I would be.


 






I do not think I have ever done this before, but I am entering this card in multiple challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches (#179) - Thank you for the sketch
Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog (#144) - Create Your Own Background (not only the trees; if you look closely, you can see the yellow panel is streaked to simulate rain falling - did you notice it is falling in the same direction as the drops in the image?)
Crafting When I Can (#90) - Favorite Hobby or Activity




Card Details:

Image: Riley and Company, Cover-a-Card

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: Hammermill, GP, SU

Ink: Memento
Coloring: Copics

Tools: Nestabilities, Cover-a-Card

Embellies: unknown ribbon

Planting for Thanksgiving

When I read that this month's theme (and by this month I mean March/April) for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Cards is "What's Cooking?", my first though was my little Inky Antics chefs. They have been staying with Linda for a while, but she said she could send them back home again. I was not, however, positive that that was the direction I wanted to go, so I went sketch challenge blurfing for inspiration. 

I browsed at least five different challenge blogs, but it was not until I saw Freshly Made Sketches(#76) that I was inspired. To the stamp room I went and started opening drawers. Suddenly I remembered I had a fruits and vegetables drawer! On top was this lovely set from The Angel Company (now out of business) and I knew right away what I was going to do. 

Embossed lines on the brown card stock evoke planting rows (or that was the plan anyway). My first thought for the designer paper panel was to find something kitchen wallpaperish but the ones I found were too busy; I opted for the muted print instead. The sketch calls for a sentiment, but I did not know what to say. First I tried "Happy Thanksgiving" cuz these are all (intentionally) Thanksgiving veggies, but, no wait, they are seed packets and should have planted long before the holiday. Next I looked at "Thinking of You" cuz I am thinking of you as I plant the veggies for our Thanksgiving dinner, but that seemed too much of a stretch. Truth is I am not a fan of sentiments - what if the sender wanted to say something different with this card? It took a while, but I finally decided upon a plain knotted ribbon instead.

Originally I was planning to make a tomato seed packet, but then I suspected that Jeanette does not like tomatoes, so I went with corn. At least it gave me a little color contrast against the carrot and pumpkin. When the card was all put together, I felt it needed a little something, so the "O" in corn got a little jewel. Livens things up a bit don't you think?

Card Details:

Image: The Angel Company

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: SU, GP

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Tools: Cuttlebug, embossing folder

Coloring: Prismacolor markers

Embellies: Basic Grey ribbon, unknown bling