Simple Bird Card

Good day! It's been cloudy and raining today. So, I decided to use a paper with clouds by Kaisercraft and make this Simple Bird Card. I really love the sentiment by Stampendous! and the birds on a wire dies are from Spellbinders. A few sequins to finish it off and this card was done. A very simple and quick card!

Challenges entered:

• Krafty Chicks: All Occasions
• Simon Says: Anything Goes
• Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Simple Sympathy Card

Good day! When it comes to making sympathy cards I tend to overthink it and stress about the details. So, I decided to make a Simple Sympathy Card with a design that would be easy to recreate quickly. I went with the less is more approach and used black die cuts (Spellbinders Die D-Lites Asters and Poppies) to speed things along. I made two cards to play with the background color and sentiment. I'm happy with the result and next time I need a sympathy card on short notice I'll know exactly what to make. This card is entered into the Make My Monday Sympathy challenge. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Using a different color and sentiment:

Caring Card - TMS #512

The weeks keep flying by and it's Tuesday again! That means the start of another sketch challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches. This weeks sketch was designed by Melissa Craig and I really enjoyed using my patterned paper on this Caring Card. It's a great sketch to use a sentiment as the focal point and I used a sentiment by Print Works called Caring is Everything. The design team has created some wonderful inspiration and we would love for you to join us this week. For all the challenge details click HERE and don't forget to link your card by 8 pm EST on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges entered: Crafty Friends (2 or More Patterned Papers), Creative Fingers (Anything Goes) and Just Us Girls (Sentiment as Focus).

Sketch #512:

Simple Things Card - TMS #500

It's a super happy Tuesday today as we celebrate challenge #500 at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I'm glad you stopped by and thank you for celebrating with us at Tuesday Morning Sketches. It's quite a milestone to reach our 500th challenge. We're so excited about this accomplishment that we decided to have a blog hop. Be sure to start at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog, follow the hop and finish back at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

In case this is your first time visiting my blog, I'm Andrea and I started making cards in 2011. I've been on the Tuesday Morning Sketches design team since November of 2018, but I started playing along in their challenges in 2013. I took a look back through the years and found the first time I played along from TMS #184 and my card is HERE. It's fun to look back and see how our design styles have evolved. Being part of the design team is such an honor and I enjoy seeing how differently the sketches are interpreted each week. Our sketch this week is a little challenging at first glance, but really it's super easy and open to so much possibility with stamps, dies and borders. My card came together pretty quickly and features a Spellbinders Flourish Trim die, patterned paper by Bo Bunny from the Early Bird 6x6 paper pad and Time to Enjoy sentiment stamp by Hero Arts.

The prize I am offering is....

Bo Bunny Pocket Full of Posies stamp set and Early Bird paper pad.

Be sure to comment here on my blog and link up your creation on the TMS blog to be considered for prizes. Yes! You can win a prize here and also on the TMS blog.

The next stop on the blog hop is... Debbie.

Enjoy the hop!

Sketch:

Quick Bird Card

It's a twofer Thursday! The hubby has the day off tomorrow, so I'm taking some extra craft time today! There are a couple of challenges that inspired this Quick Bird Card. The challenge at Cards in Envy is to use Yellow & Black and Creative Knockouts challenge is Something to Say. I love this sentiment by Stampendous and the Birds on a Wire die cut by Spellbinders made this a quick and easy card. The patterned paper is from the Summer Mood paper pad by Bo Bunny (2017). To add a little sparkle three yellow sequins were added and that's it. So glad you stopped by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered: Cards in Envy (Yellow & Black), Creative Knockouts (Something to Say), Simon Says (Anything Goes) and Word Art Wednesday (Anything Goes).

Masculine Congratulations Card

Happy Friday! It's hard to believe June has already arrived, although it's felt like June for the last couple of weeks here in Oklahoma. It seems we skipped Spring and went straight to Summer. Not my favorite time of year, but I'll suffer through it. Fall will always be my favorite!

Today starts a new challenge at Simply Create Too and the theme is For A Male. The challenge runs until June 29, 2018, so you have plenty of time to play along. Click HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. I hope to see your card in the gallery!

This Masculine Congratulations Card was made for my brother because he recently obtained a new job. The brown die cut had been sitting on my desk for awhile (Glass Effects die by Spellbinders). It was almost used for another project and then I went with different colors. To cover up some blemishes, I painted the cardstock with Rich Espresso Metallic paint. The light blue background was created with watercolor paper and spray inks. It turned out okay but I wish the colors contrasted more. The congratulations is a die cut from Impression Obsession and I also painted it with the metallic paint. To finish the card three glitter stickers by Jolee's were added and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Masculine Thanks Card

Hello! Tomorrow I have my follow-up appointment with my surgeon, so I made him this Masculine Thanks Card. Blue is the hospital colors and a nice manly color which works well in a monochrome color scheme. I used Night of Navy cardstock by Stampin' Up! and a bright blue from Core'dinations. The background was watercolored using Higgins blue watercolor ink and watercolor paper.  The top is a die called Glass Effects by Spellbinders and the thanks die is by Stampin' Up! Three glimmer stickers by Sticko were added for some extra interest and that's it!

I really like the Glass Effects die for masculine cards. The abstract look is fun and this card was pretty easy to make. It's sad that I've had this die for two years and this is only the second time I've used it. Click HERE to see the first card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Masculine Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Watercolor Wednesday: Masculine Anything Goes
• Love to Create: Anything Creative/Mixed Media
• Let's Craft and Create: Hey Dude
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

Feminine Patriotic Card

It's a little past my bedtime but I slept in on Memorial Day and now I can't go to sleep. This doesn't happen very often but I'm sure the mid-day espresso beverage didn't help my dilemma. Since I couldn't sleep I decided to make a card using this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. It's Tall & Skinny week and I do love making this size of card. The finished size of this Feminine Patriotic Card is 3.5" x 6". This card was made with a female soldier in mind as the recipient.

The patterned paper on this card is from the American Beautiful collection by Pebbles and it coordinated nicely with Marina Mist cardstock by Stampin' Up!. Using Spellbinders Die D-Lites called Bloom One the flower was die cut, layered and anchored together with a blue polka dot brad. Three die cut green leaves from my stash of extras were added around the flower. The You have Made a Difference sentiment by Hampton Art was stamped using Night of Navy ink and the final touch was some denim colored twine from The Twinery. That's it!

This Feminine Patriotic Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch #450
• Simply Create Too: Red, White & Blue
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes
• Left of Center: Stripes and/or Dots

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

The Best Things Card

My morning started earlier than normal today, so while the washing machine was doing it's thing... I played in my craft room. I made this The Best Things Card using the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches #318. All the supplies used on this card had never been used before today. The oldest is the sentiment stamp, it's at least over a year old. I purchased the Blossom patterned paper by Close to My Heart before summer and the Spellbinders Floral Corner die was purchased on sale last month.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!


This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Never-Before-Used-Schtuff: Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: Anything Goes

Using Texture at Tuesday Throwdown

Happy Tuesday! This week at Tuesday Throwdown we would like to see texture on your project. We are sponsored by Lawn Fawn, they are a small company from Southern California that specializes in crafting products that are fun and lively. Unfortunately my stash doesn't include any Lawn Fawn products, so I created a card using Texture Paste and Gelatos. We would love for you to join us this week!

This was my first time to use both Gelatos and Texture Paste. The supplies have been hanging around in my stash unused until I found the courage to try something new. I watched lots of videos before attempting this process on my own. It wasn't difficult but does require more patience. The down side is you have to allow for drying time between steps, so this definitely doesn't make a quick and easy card.

To create this card I really didn't have a plan other than the colors and products. There is a torn strip of text paper on the base layer of mixed media paper that I cover with Gesso. I had hoped the Gesso would cover the ivory color of the paper, but it didn't. It's most obvious to the top right where the lighter color of Gelatos were applied. At the end I decided to add the white silhouette die cut by Spellbinders and wished I had used less texture into the middle of the card. The stencil used is called Dot Fade by Tim Holtz and that's pretty much it. All in all, it was a lot of fun and nice to create something different.

This Textured Card is entered into the Anything Mixed Media/Creative/Inky Goes Challenge at We Love to Create.

 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Die Cut Thanks Card

Last September I was a guest designer at Cardz 4 Guyz and then joined their team. I have really enjoyed my time as part of the team but today is my last post as a designer at Cardz 4 Guyz. I have the honor of being hostess for my last challenge and the theme is a color challenge to use Brown and Orange. I would love for you to join us to celebrate my last challenge!!!

To create this Die Cut Thanks Card I used a Spellbinders die called Glass Effects with Early Espresso cardstock. The fun background was made using watercolor paper and alcohol inks. First I cut the watercolor paper to the desired size. Then using a spray bottle I coated the paper liberally with water and then randomly dropped Sunset Orange Adirondack ink by Tim Holtz. The process was repeated as needed. I let the inked panel dry thoroughly before adhering the die cut panel. For the sentiment strip I matted a piece of Whisper White cardstock onto a slightly larger Tangelo Twist cardstock and adhered the die cut Thanks sentiment by Stampin' Up! to the center. To finish the card I added three dot pastel stickers by EK Success/Sticko. I think it turned out pretty cool and I hope you agree.

Don't forget to CLICK HERE to view the wonderful inspiration from the team. We would love to see your card in the gallery this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Handmade Card with Die D-Lites

This week the Mod Squad Challenge is Anything Goes PLUS a DIE. There are so many beautiful die cuts on the market these days, it makes it hard to choose. My stash had many butterfly die cuts and layering pieces but nothing fancy and decorative. So, I decided to make a couple of additions. This Handmade Card with Die D-Lites was made using two Spellbinders Die D-Lites cut with the Big Shot. The navy fancy accent was made with the Flourish Trim and the white flower is from the Asters and Poppies set.

The colour scheme for this card is from the Colour Me Challenge. This week there is two different choices and I went with: Calypso Coral, Night of Navy and Whisper White (Team Haley). I tried all my Calypso Coral patterned paper options but I didn't like any of them with the navy flourish trim. So, I used the Watercolor Wash stamp by Stampin' Up! for the background. I like the mix of fancy and modern. What do you think?

To complete the card I used a strip of Night of Navy retired patterned paper. I stamped the sentiment using a stamp from the Watercolor Wishes Kit. The last detail was adding the silver sequins. This card is also being entered into the Anything Goes Challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card

Thanks for stopping by to check out my latest card. Today is the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we would like you to use your Dies and/or Punches. I used this challenge as an excuse to buy the Contemporary Diamonds Shapeabilities by Spellbinders. When I first saw it I knew it would make a cool card for a guy but I didn't have a good reason to buy it, so I didn't. A couple weeks later and the right challenge and I found the "justification" I needed to make my purchase. The hardest part when making this Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card was deciding what colors to use. I ended up using: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Hello Honey and Cherry Cobbler. To add some interest to the background paper I used the Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz with Antique Linen distress ink and Crumb Cake ink. The Thinking of You sentiment is from the Wetlands stamp set by Stampin' Up! and was stamped using Soft Suede ink. That's it!

Click here to see the wonderful inspiration from the design team. We hope you will join us and we can't wait to see what you create for one of the men in your life.

My Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card is entered into the following challenges:

• AAA Cards: Paste and/or Stencils
• Less is More: Stencilling
• Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes